A Promise
by Snowsong1004
Summary: A young woman is torn from the life she knows and remains hidden from the world using the few skills she has until she is cornered and thrown into a world so unfamiliar and hostile that she turns to the man who put her in this situation in the first place
1. Capture

_First FanFic! No flames please. This story has some mature content and is not recommended for people under the age of sixteen. If you are easily offended, please move on. Thanks!_

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Kyrahm held up his hand, "Stop" was all he said to the men behind him. Something or someone had brushed up against his mage-shields, and in the middle of a forest, that usually meant trouble. From the back of his mare, Kyrahm swiftly glanced at the shrubbery along the road, then the trees. The bushes pressed themselves upon the road creating a sea of green around him, and the trees above made him feel as if he were under that sea rather in the middle of a forest. The dusty path before and behind him was the only change from the green surrounding him. He couldn't even see the sky above him. His eyes flicked from tree to tree trying to pick out any detail that did not belong. He couldn't say why, but his eyes kept drifting to the huge goldenoak slightly behind him. It was almost as if the tree was watching him.

Rhyanna watched the men pass below her perch high in her favorite tree. This goldenoak had been here for centuries longer than she had, and it was the pride of the forest. She gazed intently at the men below. They were certainly not on a pleasure jaunt. They'd been roaming through her forest for nearly three days now. They didn't seem lost, so what was keeping them here? There were five of them. All dressed in a deep scarlet and black with golden hunting cat device stitched or painted onto their clothing and armor. She'd never seen men like this anywhere near her home, but something about them kept tugging at her memory.

The man in front was defiantly the leader. The other four were bodyguards of some sort. Two of those guards were hulking brutes with broadswords across their backs. The third was a slight man with a short sword strapped to his packs and a bow over his shoulder. The last man had an almost oily feel to him. His eyes seemed to shift constantly, almost as if he was expecting to be caught at any time. Assassin. Ryanna had seen his like before and knew to stay well away. All of them wore full armor each with a helm that suited his style. The black metal was almost beautiful to look at and it only made the scarlet surcoats more vivid. The man in front wore no armor at all, and the only weapon he carried was the knife in his boot. He seemed harmless, probably a merchant, but she couldn't help but stare at him.

He was absolutely incredible to look at. His hair was of the deepest black and fell in languous waves to his shoulder. So dark that it almost seemed to have blue highlights. His face was well shaped. Noble was what she'd call it. His chin came to a point rather than the square she saw on many fighters. His lips were thin, but not colorless. His skin was flawless and much lighter than the skin of his companions. Come to think of it, he probably did have noble blood in him somewhere. So what was he doing here?

When he gazed at something it was if he was measuring it, somehow weighting it in his mind as if he were either assessing its value or threat. Under it all there was something hidden. What it was Rhyanna could even begin to fathom, but it was as if there was some internal part of himself that he tried not to acknowledge. He was tall. Even though his horse was no larger than any of the others, he was at least a head taller than any of the other men.

Under the fine clothing, Rhyanna could tell that there were well-trained muscles. This man never wasted any movement. His hands held the reigns with an expert touch. She gazed at those hands. They held strength that was for sure and she would bet that under those gloves would be the same type of calluses that she'd seen on the hands of some of the trained fighters that had passed through her forest. Yet they held the reigns with a careless grace. He wasn't holding his horse too firm nor giving it too much headway. His fingers were long but not thin. Rhyanna could just imagine those fingers caressing her instead of the leather. Unconciously, the man reached down and gave his horse a pat. So, his horse was more that just a mode of transportation. That bode well. In her experiences with people in her forest, those who cared for their horses care more for their fellow man.

If this man was a merchant, none of this fit. No merchant that Rhyanna had met had kept himself in fighting trim, that's what the bodyguards were for, nor had he wandered back and forth through her forest for more than a day. The path through was well marked and kept clean, but there's an exception to every rule. Either way, she felt herself drawn to him in a way she couldn't understand. Even though they had traveled well away from her home, she still followed.

Rhyanna just sat amongst the leaves and watched him. Drawing upon her experiences from watching the world below her for nearly ten years. As the men finally began to move along the path, she slipped out from her hiding place among the hug leaves of her beloved tree and quickly made her way down to a branch that would take her to the next tree. A pine this time. She reached her hand out and caught the needles, crushing a few in her hand. With a quick jump she was making her way to the trunk of the tree. The smell of pine enveloped her and she breathed deeply once before she moved on.

Behind her the sun was quickly falling reminding her that she'd soon have to part ways with these men because they'd make camp and she still had chores to do even if there was a stranger with his entourage in her forest. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the calming air. The day was nearly over, but it had begun far too early with a mocker bird calling for a mate just outside her tree before dawn. The men began to slow as if they had spotted a place to set up camp for the evening. The man with the bow took off into the forest. She noted that he was headed north so she could give him a wide berth when she needed to go.

She settled herself into the fork of a nice maple tree, well hidden from the men just a few meters away, and just for practice, she invoked mage-sight and opened her eyes. No sooner had she done that, she was blinded by the brilliance the shields of the unarmored man. That's why he wasn't wearing armor; he had all the armor he needed in those shields. This was defiantly no merchant. She scolded herself for not checking her mage-sight days ago. This man had probably already sensed her presence, but she knew that the forest would hide her. Still, it could have been a serious mistake.

Fear warred with curiosity within her. She knew she should flee and hide until she knew he was gone, but she also knew that he wasn't going to leave until he found whatever it was that he'd been looking for and now that she knew that he was a mage she may be able to learn a thing or two from him. Curiosity won, Rhyanna sent a tiny probe towards his shields.

"Amazing," she whispered to herself.

There was layer upon layer of shields. Many of them were ones that she herself had never encountered before. Not that she was the most experienced of mages. Her mother had taught her the basics before she and her father had been killed, but since then er Hshe was entirely self-taught. Life was tough out here and when her parents were killed she was left to fend for herself. Most of what she'd learned was from watching mages as they passed through her forest, but none of them could even hold a candle to the power this man radiated.

Probing deeper, Rhyanna noted each type of shield he had, and how it appeared to be constructed. Passing by a pair of shields that worked together, one taking the brunt of whatever energy was thrown at it and feeding it to the layer underneath, Rhyanna began to investigate the final layer when suddenly her probe stuck. It was held fast. The man's head shot up as if someone had pinched him. He seemed to stare right at her hiding spot. In a panic, she severed the probe in a messy fashion and hoped he hadn't had the time to trace it. As soon as she had severed the link, the man rose and began coming towards her hiding spot. When he reached the tree, Ryanna felt that for sure she would be found. There were only a few times that she'd ever been spotted, but most of those where when she was much younger and much less experienced.

Rhyanna held her breath as the man stalked around her tree. He had yet to look up. Most people never thought to look up, and this man was no exception. Despite her fear, Rhyanna had to smile to herself. Such a simple thing to be overlooked so often. The man stalked around her tree and began looking in the forest beyond it. Afraid of him hearing her, Rhyanna simply took this time to watch him again. At this distance she could see that his eyes were a piercing deep blue. The seemed to command respect, but somehow they were cold and distant. They viewed everything objectively. As he came back around to her tree his brows furrowed in thought. He knew something was here but what it was he had yet to figure out. Then he looked up.

Rhyanna fled from her hiding spot heading deeper into the forest. She knew that the mage was aware of her now. How couldn't he be? She just hoped that the last spell her mother taught her would keep her safe yet again. As she drew energy she wove it into a deceptively simple spell and flung it about herself as she would as cloak. She moved on through the growing darkness of the forest.

Ῠ

Kyrahm felt the probe nose around his shield. Odd, it wasn't testing them; it was looking at what they were. He let the probe work its way through his shields. He could have simply blocked it out, but some instinct told him not to. As it worked its way towards his physical self he caught the heady scent of the forest. The various blossoms mixed together with the sharp pine scent and fresh earth. It was if every part of the forest was surrounding him in a cocoon. It was, oddly comforting. Kyrahm had always loved the forest, the freedom of doing what he pleased with no one around to tell him where to go or how to act or dress.

Finally, the probe reached the final layer of his shields. This one was designed to snag a probe and hold the other mage long enough for him to reach through the probe and attack his opponent. He tensed as he felt the probe gingerly touch the last shield. Greens, from the bright yellow-green of new leaves to the deep brown-green of forest loam surrounded him. He was lost in the beauty of the colors and the scents. Now sounds reached his ears, and the whole world drifted away. He could no longer hear the restless shifting of the horses or the various creaks and chinks of the men behind him. No, he was listening to birdsong, carried to him on a fresh breeze. Even the rustle of the leaves above him joined in the song that was reaching his ears. It was all beautiful and seemed to last an eternity, but when his final shield caught the probe his world snapped back into place. There it was, behind him, but before he was able to do more that locate the other mage, the other mage snapped the link, leaving part of it behind. Kyrahm reached out to recapture the probe as it slipped through his magical fingers like a frightened wild animal. And like that wild animal it would leave a trail easy to read. The energy used to create the probe would linger and follow the mage who had used it as if that mage had a tiny thread attached to him. All Kyrahm had to was find and follow it.

That chore seemed to be harder than he thought. Whatever shields this mage had they were designed for concealment. With the probe gone it was harder to locate the actual mage. Harder, not impossible. His search started with the maple tree just behind him. He was sure that this was where the probe has originated from, but there were no prints. Not even a leaf or branch out of place. He widened his search, but found nothing. Going back to the maple tree, he stood for a moment looking for the presence of the mage once again. Then he looked up.

Kyrahm turned to his second. "Wait for me here."

"Sir?" the guard looked puzzled.

"I found it, and I'm going to follow it. There is a mage in this forest and from here on out I won't be needing you. In fact you'd be more of a hinderance than anything."

"Yes sir," the guard said crispy.

Kyrahm turned his horse around and invoked his mage sight. A whispy silvery-green mist covered everything. That was odd. It was if this entire forest was soaked with mage energy from the very plants and animals living in it. Again, that just made his search harder, not impossible. He was very well trained in mage-craft. Kyrahm gazed around himself. Usually, the remaining energy would light up, but with the entire forest "lit" he needed to find the thread of a different color.

Looking around him there was nothing. So Kyrahm dismounted and began to investigate the surrounding brush closer. It had to be here somewhere. He was so intent on his search that when a hawk screamed above him, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Looking up, Kyrahm cursed the animal until he saw where the bird had landed. There, on one of the larger limbs of a huge golden oak tree sat the bird and just below his talons was a strand of energy glowing a deep and vibrant green. Keeping his gaze above him, Kyrahm followed the line of energy, but when he reached the third tree, a towering pine whose lowest branches were long gone, the path ended. How could that be? How can a mage just 'shed" his energy?

Well, no matter how the mage did it, it had been done. Now all Kyrahm had to go on was his instinct. Shifting so that he was more comfortable in the saddle, Kyrahm closed his eyes and opened his shields. Again, the colors, scents, and sounds of the forest intruded bringing a sense of peace and devotion. Off in the distance he felt a spark of alarm as a hare was flushed from his hiding spot by some sort of predator. Kyrahm just let himself float and explore the forest around himself magically. There, towards the west, Kyrahm didn't know why, but something other than just good forestry drew him in that direction. Given the fact that the mage knew where it was going and he didn't and that he was already well behind, it was going to take him some time to locate this mage So with the sun dying a brilliant scarlet death, he set his heels lightly to his mount and they began to walk.

Ῠ

"That was close. Silly girl, you should have left sooner." Ryhanna scolded herself, but a tiny voice peeped up.

"But you learned some valuable things, and not to mention he was very easy on the eyes."

She shook her head at those thoughts and dropped to the ground. Rhyanna had fled, not to her home, but to a small heated pool well away. Here she could hide and relax some of her tensions away. This pool was one of her favorite places. She'd cultivated it for years, coaxing the plants to grow in particular place and setting up barriers to keep the animals out. None of the barriers were magical. That was impractical, and she might as well hang a sign telling everyone that she had been here. No, they were purely physical. Some were plants that let of unpleasant scents to animals, others were poisonous to eat, and still others had thorns. Only Rhyanna knew the path through the bramble, and it wasn't likely that anything else was going to figure it out either.

The pool was almost egg shaped with a small finger of land that made it look as if the egg had cracked and separated the two halves of the pool forming a small waterfall at one end. The little waterfall let the hot water that bubbled up at the top to reach the bottom of the egg, and if she wanted to she could bathe without mucking up the entire pool.

At the narrow end, Rhyanna had coaxed a blossoming willow to grow so that its branches hung out over the water creating a small private area where Rhyanna could let the world slip away. In the spring there was beautiful white blossoms all over the drooping branches of the tree, but now that it was almost summer most of the blossoms had come and gone only to be replaced by the moss colored leaves. There were still a few lingering blossoms on the tree, but many of the remaining blossoms had fallen and now floated on the pool.

Between the edge of the pool and the bramble keeping unwanted visitors out, the ground was covered in various brushes and some flowering plants. Behind the brush there was a ring of trees. Some were old, others younger. All varying types as well. They looked perfectly natural until you noticed that they were in a perfect ring around the pool. Everywhere there was a plant, flower, or tree except for the little bit of land that extended into the pool. There she had planted mosses of all types, and right in the middle was a huge flat-topped stone. It was there, that she'd sit and let the sun dry her as she practiced her magic, and that was where she sat now.

She had already dove into the pool and relaxed away the fatigue of climbing through the trees in her escape as well as cleaning away the dirt she'd picked up along the way as well. The moon had risen giving Rhyanna enough light to see to comb her hair out using an old comb she'd taken with her long ago.

I should try to cut this, she thought to herself, there's really no point in keeping it this long. She regarded her chestnut curls with disdain, and set the comb to them. As much as she'd liked to have cut it off, she couldn't bear to. Her father had loved her hair, and that was all she could remember of him. He had just never come home one day. Her mother cried for days, and Rhyanna, being only seven at the time didn't fully understand what had happened. All she knew was that her daddy wasn't coming home.

As she combed through her hair, she thought of the man she watched today. Try as she might, she just couldn't turn her thoughts away from him. She couldn't even concentrate long enough to recreate more than one of his shields. She'd managed to work out how he'd been able to make a shield feed the one under it, but as soon as she'd figured that out, which hadn't taken her as long as she thought, she kept thinking about the man that had made the shield in the first place.

When she could run her fingers through her hair without catching them, she set the comb down, picked up a light shift to put on and lay down on the rock. She gazed into the water watching the moon rise on the pool, and tried once again to concentrate on her magic. One by one, she created her shields, molding them just so and then gently pushing them away from her body, so that they set like so. Once she had them set she let them dissipate and started over. This time the shields went wrong from the start. She just couldn't keep her mind off of that man. Frustrated, she picked up a rock near by and flung it into the pool. The splash sent ripples across the water distorting the reflections and sending miniature waves lapping against the banks.

Khyram knew he was getting closer. When he invoked his mage sight the "mist" of the forest defiantly had a deeper green to it, and he could feel the ripples in the energy telling him that someone was near by. He didn't even realize how close he was until he heard a soft splash just off to his right through the trees. He dismounted from his mare and tethered her to a low branch nearby so that she'd be able to reach the grass around her to keep her quiet. Silently he crept towards the trees lest a crack of a twig give him away. It wouldn't do to alert the mage to his presence.

When he reached the trees he paused for a moment to ready his shields. If he could catch the mage unawares, he would have a major advantage so in addition to his shields he readied a levin bolt and right on it's heels would be a binding spell. If possible he wanted this mage alive. Anyone who could stay hidden and survive in this forest may be worth recruiting if he wasn't already mad. Of course there would be coercions placed on such a mage, but still he would be a welcome addition.

Ready now, Kyrahm slid through the branches trying to disrupt them as little as possible. No sooner did he glance up from where he was placing his foot, that his gaze was captured by the most vibrant of green. Not an emerald green that all the poets and stories talked about. No, this was a deeper green full of emotions that he could only begin to understand. Unlike the swirling colors before, this green belonged to a pair of eyes that stared at him in startled surprise. Not but a two horse-lengths away sat a young woman dressed in naught by a simple, flimsy shift. Her chestnut curls flowed over her shoulder and down to the middle of her back. Her face had a sweet and sincere line to it, and looked more prone to laughter than anger. Her neck was long and graceful, and as Kyrahms gazed descended lower he began to blush. Her shift did not leave much to the imagination, but why he'd be so uncomfortable he couldn't understand. It wasn't as if he'd never seen a naked woman before. Granted she wasn't nude but close enough.

For a moment she just sat lay there, on one hip with an elbow propping her up and her other arm across her chest trying, unsuccessfully, to hide herself. Kyrahm just stood there staring at her. He had been expecting some wild man with manners to match, but here sat a most beautiful wood nymph of a woman. Since she was laying at somewhat of an awkward angle it was hard to tell how tall she was, but he imagined that she couldn't stand taller than his chest and she was a rather slight woman though he could tell that underneath that smooth skin lay well worked muscles. Her chest moved slightly with each breath she took, and that slight unconscious movement was more arousing that any paid professional's deliberate attempt could ever be. Sternly, he reminded himself that this was a wild mage no matter how beautiful she may seem, she could still be dangerous. As he came to that conclusion, he saw that she too had overcome her surprise, and her eyes now filled with fear and, oddly enough, a mixture of sadness and curiosity.

Before he could react, she dove into the pool. The blossoms that covered the surface hid her from view. He ran to the place where she dove in, but not even a ripple disclosed her position. Closing his eyes, Kyrahm dissipated his earlier spells and began to create a spell to hold everything in place.

"Wait you idiot, what if she's still underwater? She'd be dead before you found her," the sensible part of himself yelled.

"Too bad then. One more mage out of the way," his training argued back.

"Sorez would not be as pleased with a dead mage as a coecered one."

Kyrahm unwove the spell and sent the energies back into himself. He then removed his cloak, tunic, shirt, boots, and trousers, then dove into the pool himself. Just as the steam floating above the surface had promised, this pool was warm. Once he resurfaced, Kyrahm closed his eyes and let his senses once again take control. The air felt crisp on his face and this time it was blues and silver that surrounded his mind. Mingled in with the blues was the green he had seen a moment ago. Then he felt the spark of life that told him where his prey was.

Rhyanna hid herself among the branches of the willow. Fear swept her mind and left her cold. She knew she was trapped and it was only a matter of time before he found her again. She couldn't leave the pool because he'd see her and she knew that she could never hope to outrun a trained warrior. Nor did her magic stand a chance. He was much better trained than she was. Her mind raced, trying to think of some means of escape when she heard the splash into her pool. She slid towards the edge of the pool. If she could just reach it and run while he was still underwater she'd have a chance.

Kyrahm surfaced among the branches of the willow tree to see the girl sliding out of the water onto the embankment. Her shift was soaked and very transparent. With a quick movement Kyrahm slid behind her and as she went to stand he grabbed her delicate ankle. Unready for the touch she jumped and fell onto her stomach. From the pool there was no hiding the fact she was female. She jerked her leg trying desperately to get away. As she began to screa, he flung a silencing spell at her. Her eyes went wide as she realized what had happened. With a grin he pulled her back into the pool with him.

"Oh goddess! He's going to rape me!" her mind screamed. As he pulled her into the pool and against him, she could feel his hardness. Her body quivered in fear, her eyes wide and almost pupil. The man grinned as he pinned her arms at her sides by the sheer force of his embrace. He lowered his face towards hers. She stared into his eyes with fear coursing through vein in her body. As their lips met, his hand glided up her back to cup the back of her head. His other arm crushed her to him. His need was insistent and she was helpless to stop him. He trailed kisses along her neck and shoulder. Her body quivered again despite the heat of the pool.

Every thought in Rhyanna's mind stopped when he kissed her. She hadn't been kissed by man since her father had left and even then it had been _nothing_ like this! Her fear of this man rose with every passing moment, but her body betrayed her. She had grown into a woman over the years and those needs she had never felt before began sweeping her body causing her to react to this man despite her fear. As his hand slid beneath the water to grasp her backside, she pressed her hips into him digging his hardness into her stomach.

His hands roamed where they willed once he realized she wasn't going to run away again. He moved his hand from perfectly curved backside, under her shift and up her back. Unable to control himself any longer he lifted her up and set her on the embankment then hoisted himself beside her. He laid her down onto the soft moss. The laces of her shift were soaked and impossible to undo and in his need he simply tore the garment down the front. The fabric gave easily and she lay beneath him with the scraps of fabric lying on either side of her. He gazed at her torso now bare and moved his undergarments to expose his hardness. He laid himself down upon her and gazed once more into her eyes.

There was no fear, only a deep and intense sadness. The green of her eyes had dulled nearly to a gray color. She closed her eyes and turned her face to the side. Her arms reached around him and her fingers traced the line of his spine sending shivers all over his back. His knees pushed her legs apart. She was wet and warm for him. He positioned himself so that he could thrust himself into her with all of the force he could, violently making her body his. He looked to her face so that he could see her expression when the moment came. It was then he saw the tears dripping from the end of her nose. Normally, this would have never affected him, but somehow watching those little droplets of salt-water fall to the earth allowed the calm and rational part of himself to resurface. With a sigh he readied a spell of sleep and pressed his index finger to the girl's forehead.


	2. A Dream and a New Place

CHAPTER 2

Rhyanna was slung over a saddle. It was the movement of the horse that woke her. She couldn't recall how she ended up on the saddle, and when she tried to move she found that her hands and feet had be bound under the belly of the horse. Other bonds kept her from sliding out of the saddle. Some of them dug into her skin and others burned as the rubbed against her even through her clothing. She was still wearing the shift she'd been wearing when the man had captured her, but someone had thrown a rough blanket over her. She didn't know whether to be thankful or annoyed. While the blanket covered her nakedness it itched like crazy. Without her hands free to scratch, she had no choice but to endure it.

Slowly she opened her eyes. All she could see was the side of the horse she was on and the belt that held the saddle in place. She turned her head to look ahead of her. All she could see was the legs and hooves. They were all black. Not a single brown, chestnut, or roan. Nothing around her looked familiar as she turned her head back and forth, but as she tilted her head up as far as her neck could reach she remembered the man who rode alongside her horse. It was the same man from her pool. He was dressed again in his robes, but now they were a velvety black trimmed in gold and scarlet. Still groggy from her sleep she barely registered his movements before she was sent back into a dream-filled slumber.

_She was seven once more, and her mother was calling her in from the garden where she had been watching a caterpillar devour the leaf to one of her mother's vegetables. With her hands and knees covered in dirt she ran to the call of her mother. The smell of dinner cooking in the kitchen was enough to make her stomach rumble, but she had lesson before dinner was ready. She always had her magic lessons right before dinner. Her mom seemed to think that a hungry belly made her pay attention so that they could get to dinner sooner. _

_Rhyanna brushed the dirt from her and skipped into her mother's workroom. Her mother had already laid out a box. Curious Rhyanna plopped herself down on the bench opposite her mother. With a thought the door closed and the lighting dimmed. _

"_I don't have much time to teach you this so use your mage-sight and watch me closely," her mother told her sternly._

_It wasn't like her to ever be strict with her daughter, but the importance of this lesson could not be stressed enough. She would need it in the coming hours. _

_Over the course of the next hour Rhyanna mastered the most difficult spell her mother had ever taught her. At the end of the hour the smell of dinner was truly overpowering her will to concentrate. As Rhyanna stood to go her mother stopped her. She had totally forgotten about the box sitting in the middle of the table. _

"_I want you to have this," her mother said as she pushed the box towards her._

_Slowly Rhyanna lifted the catch and inside laid a pendant. The chain was made of fine silver, and shimmered gently in the dimming sunlight. Rhyanna removed it from the box and let the charm dangle in the air. It was beautiful. By far the most beautiful thing Rhyanna had ever seen. The silver had been molded into a great oak tree with branches that reached the ground and entwined around the back of the deepest and clearest emerald ever. Rhyanna's eyes were filled with wonder as the emerald caught the light while it gently spun at the end of the chain. _

_Rhyanna carefully undid the clasp and slid the chain under her hair and try as she might she couldn't get the clasp back together. Her mother laughed at her struggles. Not cruelly, but a gentle, soft laugh. Smiling she moved behind her daughter and helped her with the clasp. She pulled her hair back into place, smoothing her hair down. _

"_Let's go see how it looks!" her mother said excitedly and led her daughter to the looking glass._

_A soft "oh" was all Rhyanna could manage. It was absolutely magnificent. She had no idea her family owned anything so valuable. She felt her mother's hands on her shoulders and saw her face just above her own head. They were almost mirror images of each other, at least as much as a child can look like one parent. She had her mother's green eyes, but her father's curls. She also had her father's abilities. Her mother had told her that someday she would outshine even the best trained of mages. Of course to Rhyanna, her mother was the best-trained mage ever, and she'd never obtain the skill her mother had let alone exceed it._

"_This is our family's greatest treasure. It can store your energy and even help you with your spells. No one knows what its limits are yet, but I'm sure it will be able to help you with anything you'll ever need. Keep it with you always," Rhyanna's mother whispered to the reflections in the mirror._

"_Now, let's eat, then I have some herbs I need you to gather before it becomes too late."_

_They sat down to eat, but Rhyanna couldn't remember any of the conversation. The meal passed in a blur and the next thing she knew she was at the edge of the wood that overlooked their home. A sound caught her attention and she looked up. The moon was full and giving the entire world a misty glow. On the path leading to their humble home was a small group of riders. There were six horses and only five riders. The last horse was saddled but riderless. _

Stay where you are Rhyanna. No matter what _her mothers voice echoed in her mind._

_The men came to a stop at their home. Her mother met them outside their home. The man in the lead dismounted and walked up to her mother. He was far taller than her. She barely came to his shoulder and yet she held her ground. The man seemed to give her an order. She refused. He then struck her across her face with the back of his hand. She could hear the leather of his glove hitting the skin of her cheek. Rhyanna clutched the tree she had been standing by. She wanted desperately to run to her mother but her words echoed in her mind. Her mother staggered at the force of the blow, but maintained her ground. She looked back at the man without fear. Rhyanna saw them talking but couldn't make out what they were saying. Her mother was furious and scared at the same time. Rhyanna could tell from the way her mother stood. She looked the man in the face, but she held herself as far away as she could from this man, as if he was contaminated with a plague._

_They argued for a few moments longer, and then her mother turned to walk back into their house. Before she moved more than a step, the man's arm shot out and grabbed her mother by the back of the neck, forcing her to the ground. He lowered his head to her hair, stroking it with his free hand. He turned her face towards him and grinned wolfishly at the helpless woman before him. He barked a command and two of the men riding with him dismounted and walked up on either side of her mother. The man in the lead let go, but the other two immediately grabbed her shoving her onto the ground completely._

_Rhyanna's heart froze. What were they doing to her mother? Why were they doing this? What had they ever done to these people? Rhyanna didn't even know them. In horror she watched her mother struggle to get away, and every time she got her feet under her, the men would beat her until she lay on the ground again. After what seemed to be an eternity to Rhyanna the men finally let her mother stand. Her clothing hung from her in rags. She was covered in dirt and grass stains. Blood trickled from several cuts on her face and hands and probably in other places that Rhyanna couldn't see. In the fading light it was hard to tell where bruises would form, but Rhyanna could see that one of her mother's eyes was swollen nearly shut and she leaned heavily on her left foot. Tears began to trickle down her face._

Mother! _she screamed._

RUN! _ was the only reply, and she saw the man who first approached her mother snap his head right in her direction. _

_His eyes were blue and even at this distance Rhyanna felt them, cold, hard, and cruel. For a moment Rhyanna was frozen in place, but only for a moment. As soon as the man started in her direction, Rhyanna took off. She fled through the forest not thinking or caring about where she was going as long as it was away from the man who could watch a woman beaten with apparent enjoyment. She felt his presence closing in on her. Her lesson earlier suddenly popped into her consciousness. Quickly she scrambled up the biggest tree nearby. When she could climb no further she made sure that she couldn't be seen from below and began to weave the spell to cloak herself from the world. No one would be able to see, smell, or hear her physically nor would they see her magically either. It was possible to trace the essence of the spell, but that person needed to have a connection with her than family. _

_Her heart raced as she watched the man pass below her. He paused under the tree she hid in. Rhyanna pulled her bony knees up to her chest and shivered sure that he would spot her despite the spell. He glanced up and all Rhyanna could see were his eyes. Those same cold, piercing eyes that at a distance were enough to send chills through her now filled her vision. The eyes kept growing and growing until the entire forest around her disappeared and she was lost in an icy ocean slowly losing all perceptions of time and self. _

Ῠ

Rhyanna's eyes fluttered open. She felt a soft fabric covering her from her chin down to her toes. There was a down filled pillow supporting her head and a matching mattress supporting the rest of her body. The soft scent of lavender reached her nose and suddenly she realized that she was not in her hut in the forest. Her eyes flew open but her body stayed still. Her eyes only met darkness. After a moment the darkness formed itself in to deep green bed curtains that moved gently in some sort of breeze. A door opened somewhere nearby and closed gently. Soft footsteps made their way around the room. At some point the window was closed because the curtains stopped moving, but the footsteps continued. Finally the footsteps stopped at the bed and the curtains were pulled back to reveal a room lavishly furnished and larger than any she'd ever seen before.

Slowly Rhyanna sat up and gazed at her surrounding. The walls and floor were stone, but wonderfully colorful tapestries had been hung on the walls and rugs had been placed on the floor to ward off any chill. The colors tried to shake off the dreary feeling of the gray stone, but it was the windows that had been thrown open that gave dreariness its final blow. The bed she was in was in the middle of the room. Behind her was a pair of large windows. Each held many panes of thick glass that made the world outside them blurry. To her right was a small wooden door and to her left was a large armoire with a small servant-girl standing in front of it and a large fireplace with two chairs and a small table between them. In front of her was a much larger door. This one was stained a deep mahogany brown and intricately carved to show a she lion sitting below the drooping branches of some sort of tree. Her head was tilted up slightly so that she could look down upon the world as if she was a queen.

The servant-girl opened the armoire to reveal several lovely gowns. The girl herself couldn't have been older than ten, but when she turned there was not a hint of child in her. Her face was thin and held no emotion. The brown eyes that should have been laughing and sparkling with childish mischief only held the seriousness with which she took her duties. The girl carefully selected two gowns. Either gown was worth more than anything Rhyanna had ever seen except her necklace. Her necklace! Rhyanna gasped as her hands flew to her throat where the charm should have been. It was gone!

"Please don't worry mistress. I set your necklace in the jewel case when you came in last night. You were asleep and I was told to get you to bed. I will accept any punishment for my actions," the young maid spoke barely above a whisper.

The girl turned with the gowns in her hands and placed each gown on one of the chairs next to the fireplace. She then walked to the bed, clasped her hands before her and bowed her head as if she truly expected some form of physical punishment. Stunned Rhyanna just stared at the girl. What kind of person would beat a child to a point where there was no personality left? Rhyanna turned and moved towards the side of the bed where the girl stood. She sat on her knees at just watched the servant. The girl's short hair fell forward to hide her face, but Rhyanna could see that her shoulders were shaking in fear. Rhyanna slowly reached down and placed a finger under the girl's chin. The girl flinched at the touch, but didn't move. Rhyanna lifted her head so that she could see the girl's taunt face. Her mouse-brown eyes were wide and her pupils dilated in fear. What kind of treatment did this girl expect? Never having to deal with servants or children before Rhyanna was at a loss as to what to do with her. Rhyanna just gazed back into the child's eyes trying to emit warmth and comfort. Rhyanna smiled down at the child, "Thank you. I won't harm you for doing what you were told. I can't just keep calling you girl, so what should I call you?"

The girl visibly relaxed and even smiled up at Rhyanna. That smile lit up her eyes and made her look like a child once again.

"Ella, mistress," the girl curtsied and returned to the gowns on the chairs

"Fine then. Ella it is."

The girl brushed out the two gowns. The first one was a brown a shade or two lighter than her hair. It was a wonderful satin dress with cream lace on the ends of the sleeves and at the collar and along the trim. The embroidery was done in the same shade as the dress and featured small flowers each with four delicate petals. The flowers hung from a vine that wrapped itself around the waist and dropped down the folds of the gown. It was magnificent. The second gown was the color of a rich red wine. Rhyanna could even begin to describe it. There was so much to the gown, lace, beading, and embroidery that it was simply amazing. The servant girl caught her staring at the gowns and giggled.

"Haven't you ever been to a formal event?" she asked

"No." Rhyanna replied in awe.

"Well, first things first. We need to get you bathed before we can dress you. Follow me please."

She led the way through the small door on the left side of the room. That door led to a bathing room. This room was all tiled in soft blues and greens. There were shelves that held towels and at the end of the room was a cabinet at the end of the room that must contain something. This is where Ella went first. She opened the doors, and Rhyanna saw that the cabinet was filled with bottles and jars of all different colors. She selected several bottles and arranged them at one end of the bath. The bath itself was more of a pool than a tub. It was shaped like a long rectangle that was shallower at one end. The water was so clear that Rhyanna could see the seats along the deep end of the bathing pool. Ella pulled the stopper from a tall sapphire blue bottle and poured some of its contents into the water. Immediately the water took on the color of the bottle, a blue deeper than that of the ocean. It was a stark contrast from the soft colors of the tiles surrounding the bath. A soft scent reached Rhyanna's nose. She couldn't describe it. It was a clean scent, crisp, but not heavy. Rhyanna closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The scent was relaxing. It took her mind away from her surroundings for a moment. Linen, clean linen, that's what the smell was. She'd smelled it every time her mother had washed the bedclothes and hung them out to dry.

Ella smiled, "I thought you'd like that scent, mistress. Most of the women here prefer the heavier perfumes but the shift you wore when you arrived was, well…uh, simple. I thought it matched you."

"Thanks," Rhyanna breathed.

"I'll leave you to disrobe and bathe yourself. I'll be back in a bit to help you with your hair. The blue jar contains soaps that you may like; use whichever you prefer mistress," the young girl bowed and made her way from the room.

Rhyanna gazed about her, alone for the first time in this place. Suddenly it hit her, she had no clue where she was beyond the fact that it had to be a manor of some sort. All of the memories of the man at her pool rushed back at her, being tied to a saddle, and awakening in a strange new place. What did this man want with her? Who was he? Thought after thought chased themselves around in her mind.

_Shield your thoughts girl! You could be heard by anyone._ a deep, masculine voice spoke in her mind.

Startled into thought Rhyanna carefully replaced her shields. Why had they been down in the first place, and more importantly, how did she not notice? She shook her head. The only windows in this room were along the ceiling. With the steam from the bath making the tiles slick there was no climbing out of here. Even if she stood on the cabinets she'd never be able to reach. She could hear the maid cleaning in the bedroom so there was no going back through there. As kind as the girl had seemed, she was loyal to whoever was in charge of this place. She'd raise the alarm and no knowing where she was she'd be caught again in no time. So there was nothing to do, but take a bath as instructed.

Rhyanna let the shift fall from her shoulders. It fell to the ground with a whisper of cloth. She walked to the shallow end of the pool and tentatively dipped her foot into the water. It was as warm as she could have ever wished, but how was this possible? Magic, the logical part of her mind answered. Trying not to think of recent events, Rhyanna glided into the water concentrating only on the warmth and scent that surrounded her. She drifted to the deep end of the bath and opened the jar that the servant had pointed out. Inside there were several small bars of soap. Rhyanna selected one and held it under her nose. It smelled of lavender, not a scent she was exceedingly fond of. The next was a vanilla scent, but too heavy for her liking. Finally, she found soap scented like the water. She used it liberally. It had been a long time since she'd been really clean. The best she could come were the scented plants that grew near her pool in the forest, but those never smelled as nice nor did they clean her skin as well.

After Rhyanna scrubbed herself clean she laid back in the warm water letting her thoughts drift away. The creak of the door opening and soft footsteps let Rhyanna know that the servant had returned. Ella went back to the cabinet and pulled out another bottle and a comb. She motioned for Rhyanna to come to the edge of the bath. Rhyanna sat on one of the benches, and Ella took the comb to her hair. Once she had combed all knots out of Rhyanna's hair, she opened the bottle she'd retrieved when she'd entered and poured the contents into her hair. This had the effect of creating a wonderful lather in her hair. Ella's strong fingers massaged her scalp working the shampoo into every inch of her curls.

"Dunk your head please, mistress" the girl instructed softly.

Rhyanna closed her eyes and dipped her head under the water, shaking out the shampoo while she was under. When she could no longer hold her breath, she resurfaced making sure that her hair was off of her face. She wiped the water from her eyes, and when she opened them Ella had disappeared. In her place stood the man from the forest. He was dressed in a deep blue shirt that was left open to show his chest underneath and black trousers that left nothing to the imagination. He stared down at Rhyanna. Silently she thanked the goddess that the water was now too dark to see into so it hid her body perfectly. Without a word, the man strode around the pool as if he were inspecting a choice mare. There was no feeling in his posture or expression. He stopped at the shallow end of the pool. That was when Rhyanna saw that Ella had retreated to the farthest corner of the room and was kneeling with her forehead to the ground and her hands splayed in front of her.

"Girl," he spoke to the servant, "What gowns have you chosen for her?"

"The mahogany satin with lace trim and the wine gown with the train, sire" she replied quietly

"Dress her in the wine, pull her hair up, and find some suitable jewelry. Preferably something to complement the dress rather than a contrasting color. No perfumes and see to it she is ready well before sunset. I will be back for her then," he spoke briskly never once taking his eyes from her.

"Yes, sire"

Sire? What did this mean? Rhyanna's mind spun. Here he was again, standing before her and talking about her as if she was some object to be possessed, dolled up, and trotted before others. Yet she couldn't take her eyes from him. He had a well-formed chest, probably from years of training, but if he were noble in any way he'd have had trainers for that and many other things ever since he was a child. He dressed plainly, but richly. His boots for instance, matched his shirt perfectly. To dye leather to that shade of blue would have taken a lot of work to keep the leather from going stiff or brittle.

Rhyanna finally brought herself to look at his eyes. The light she had seen before was gone. They were cold and hard. They didn't give anything away, and they shook her to her very core. It was as if he could look into her mind and know all of her hidden secrets. He turned on his heel and strode out of the bathing room. Rhyanna shivered at the effect he had on her. She was tingling all over and very thankful that one was almost weightless in water because she didn't think her legs could have supported her for more than a moment.

"Mistress?" a small, questioning voice broke through the haze in her mind.

"Mistress, you need to come out now. We don't have much time."

Rhyanna shook her head, "Of course," she replied and walked towards the shallow end of the bath where Ella stood with a towel.

The girl dried her body, which was something Rhyanna was totally unaccustomed to and was a little unnerved by at first thinking of all the slight imperfections on her body, but when the girl made no comment, she relaxed some and let her do what was needed. For the next hour or so, Rhyanna became a life-sized doll as Ella put garment after garment on her telling her to move this way and that. Rhyanna never knew that you could wear so many layers of clothing and still breathe. Finally there was only the gown left to be put on over the undergarments. Ella's face began to look worried as she started on her hair.

"What is it?" Rhyanna asked gently.

"Your hair, miss, its still too damp to be done properly and we're running short on time," she replied.

"Oh, you should have said something sooner," Rhyanna wove a small spell to drive the water from her hair and into the air around it.

Rhyanna had the satisfaction of watching the girl's face transform in wonder as she watched the hair become dry in a fraction of the time in would have normally took. She smiled and allowed the girl to lead her to a chair at a small table with several boxes on in and a mirror. She then preformed what seemed to be a small miracle with her hair and face, and in an amazingly short amount of time Rhyanna didn't even recognize herself. Rhyanna never knew she could look so, well, regal. Her hair had been loosely pulled up so as to avoid flattening the curls too much. The pins that held it in place were invisible, but the girl had placed gems of some sort in the arrangement and they winked back at her. The makeup only accented her features. She really had to look hard to find any traces of the girl's handiwork. Her lids had been brushed with a deep plum color, which surprised her at first, but now seeing the result, it brought out the green of her eyes beautifully, and the girl had darkened her lashes as well. The effect was stunning. There was a touch of color to her lips to deepen them, some pink was added to her cheeks and an overall powder to even out the tone of her skin and neck.

Lastly there was the gown. Ella fetched another girl to help, and oh-so-carefully they lifted the gown over her head and down on all of the undergarments. Once the gown was in place, the other girl left and Ella straightened and laced the gown into place. Thankfully this wasn't one that needed to be sewn once it was on because there would have never been enough time for that. Ella walked back to the armoire where Rhyanna had first seen her, and pulled a small box from the bottom and handed it to Rhyanna. She opened it up to find more jewels than she'd ever seen in a lifetime.

"I have no idea what to pick," Rhyanna confessed.

"I am not permitted to handle such things until you have made your choice," the girl stated.

"Fine then, I will handle them and you can tell me if they're suitable. I'll pick a necklace and you can show me the matching pieces,"

Rhyanna first held up a burnt orange looking stone necklace on a golden chain. Ella shook her head and she set aside. Next she chose a clear stone on black ribbon. Again the girl said no and mumbled something about not wearing that stone upon first appearances. Confused, Rhyanna kept looking.

"What about the necklace I already have?" she asked

"That? Oh no miss, the color doesn't match at all!"

With a sigh, Rhyanna finally held up a necklace made of a golden chain that fit her throat snugly and had deep red stones in the shape of teardrops strung from it with a second, much smaller, chain and a larger stone that fell to the hollow of her throat. Ella finally nodded and helped Rhyanna to find the matching pieces, which included earrings and bracelet and a sort of belt. The belt was a larger version of the necklace without all the smaller stones and a longer chain down the front of the gown and ending in the largest gem that Rhyanna had ever seen.

Just as Ella was setting the last details, a knock came at the door. Ella jumped and ran for the door. As soon as she'd opened the door enough for the man outside, she dropped to the grown just as she'd seen her earlier. Feeling self conscious Rhyanna curtsied, which was no mean feat in the shoes Ella had presented her with. The man walked up to Rhyanna and stood before her. She felt a hand under her chin drawing her head upwards. He captured her eyes with his own. For a moment she forgot to breathe. His eyes registered shock and wonder for a brief moment, but it was only a moment before the impassive mask dropped back down. He then grabbed her wrist and led her from the room and from the little security she had found there.


	3. Introductions

_Before you start reading, I'll warn you that this chapter is much shorter than the previous two. I'd had those written for quite some time, but this one is brand-spankin' new! Please read and review!_

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Chapter 3

The strange man led Rhyanna down hall after hall of gray stone full of tapestries and statures of various men and gods. After years in the forest, Rhyanna was lost after the first few turns they took. The windows they passed were very small and didn't afford much of a glimpse at the landscape. All she could tell was that she was a few stories above ground, and that the sun was quickly dropping below the horizon.

The man stopped abruptly, "Name?" the asked briskly.

Rhyanna just stared at him dumbly.

"Your name, girl, what is it?" he asked again

"Oh, ah, my name," Rhyanna stumbled on the words, her mind refusing to work at the moment, "Rhyanna d'Anheline."

"D'Anheline!" the man jerked as his eyes went as wide as saucers making the blue stand out even more against the white.

Quickly her grabbed her arm again and led her back around the corner to a small alcove with the statue of some military man, "You will never repeat that name in this castle ever again if you value your life, girl. You will claim to have no surname and no family."

Stunned, Rhyanna didn't even realize that she was moving once again. Seemingly, drug along to the top of a grand, curving staircase. At first the lighting in the hall nearly blinded her, but as her eyes grew adjusted to the brilliance she began to take stock of her surroundings. There was now carpeting under her feet, a brilliant golden patterned in scarlet and black hunting cats chasing smaller animals and feasting upon them. The cats were the same as the ones she'd seen on the armor of the men in her forest who knows how long ago.

The stair led down to a grand hall filled with more men and women than Rhyanna had ever seen in her lifetime. Most seem to be coming from under her. There must have been a door or another hallway on the floor beneath her. All of them were dressed lavishly. Even in her gown, Rhyanna felt awkward and ungainly around all of the women beneath her. Each one had perfect features, most were blonde, and they were all as thin as wraiths. All of the time climbing trees and trekking through the forest had put muscles on Rhyanna's frame, and had tanned her skin to a golden hue. The men and women beneath her were one and all, pale. A hidden trumpet sounded, and Rhyanna's escort began to descend, step by step. All faces turned up to gaze upon her escort, not her. Rhyanna too glanced up at her escort and only then did she see the silver coronet that confined his hair.

Yet again, stunned, Rhyanna came to the bottom of the stair, and the crowd parted before her and her escort. At the end of the human tunnel was a throne set upon a dais, and in that throne was a man. Despite what had to be the advanced age of this man, he bore his robes and crown with the strength of a man half his age. Try as she might, Rhyanna could not look away from him. His steel-gray eyes locked onto her own green ones and seemed to stare into her very soul freezing everything in its path. Rhyanna was drowning in the frozen abyss of those eyes, but a slight tug on her arm brought her back to reality reminding her that she was standing before royalty of some kind. Time seemed to stand still for a moment, and slowly resumed as she sunk into a curtsy.

Rhyanna dropped her gaze to the ground before her. Her escort had let go of her arm and had bowed and risen. Thanking her mother silently for all of the "senseless" lessons in etiquette, Rhyanna stayed put. She knew that she wasn't to rise until told to. Her escort, being royalty as well was permitted to rise.

"Your majesty, may I present to you lady Rhyanna," she heard her escort speak flatly.

"No surname?" the king said in a strong voice that carried easily across the room.

"None sire. She has no known family nor do her memories reveal any definitive parents. There are images of a mother, but they are blurred as if they were from a time when she was very young."

"Very well, Kyrahm. Has she been tested?"

"Yes sire, she is an adept level easily."

"Good, you will train her and test her. Once she is an adept and her powers are fully known I will decide what will be done with her. Rise Rhyanna."

Rhyanna slowly rose, keeping her eyes downcast. A second pair of feet entered her vision. These feet stood on the step just below the throne and then they started approaching her. They slowly circled her. Rhyanna could feel that the feet belonged to a powerful mage. His shields grated against her own, and Rhyanna pulled her shields in closer and reinforced them. Something made her recoil from this man like a mouse from a cat. A leather-gloved hand grasped her chin with hidden strength and drew her gaze upwards.

Strong legs in skin-tight trousers entered Rhyanna's view. Those same trousers left nothing to the imagination, thankfully his tunic covered his most private of places, but still Rhyanna blushed at the thought. Strong arms and chest covered in the most expensive of fabrics came into view. Lastly came a face that seemed almost familiar. Black hair, the same as her escort's, was confined by a thicker silver coronet that boasted a black stone in the middle of the brow and the face held most of the same features as her escort, but instead of brilliant blue eyes his were the same cold gray as the king's. However, unlike her escort, and like the king, there was cruel cast to the set of his lips. It was as if he never smiled, and even now he seemed to sneer down at Rhyanna as if he considered her worthless. Rhyanna truly felt as if she was the trapped mouse and she didn't know why. He let go of her chin and returned to his place on the dais, and Rhyanna's eyes returned to the floor in front of her.

The king chuckled, a cold, calculating sound, "She knows her place, eh. Take her and go Kyrahm. Bring her back when she is ready, but in no less that a year."

"A year?" Kyrahm yelped. "Begging your pardon, my liege, but the girl has no formal training and…"

"A year!" he roared, "Not a day more!"

"Yes, sire. A year."

Kyrahm again took Rhyanna's elbow and lead her from the room, back down the twisting hallways. Rhyanna had no clue where she was going, but she was certain they weren't heading back to the room she had woken up in. A cold fear gripped Rhyanna; suddenly she realized that she was in a strange place, alone with a strange man. One who had already tried to take advantage of her once, and now she was on his grounds. He knew where they were going, but she was totally lost.


	4. First Lessons

Just a bit of a guide: "blah" talking; _blah_ thoughts; :_blah_: talking mind to mind/ mindspeech

All reviews are welcome!

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Chapter 4

Kyrahm stood in disbelief as his father ordered him to train the girl next to him. Didn't he know what happened more often than not between teacher and student of similar ages and opposite sexes? Her mind would be an open book to him and his to her as well if she cared to read it. Not only that but the girl was Anheline! If only he knew! It was too late for that now.

Being noted as the most powerful mage of her generation, she would be married into the royal family in hopes of producing offspring that were also powerful mages. Under his great-grandfather's rule it was proclaimed that the most powerful son **or** nephew would become heir. If there were two males of equal strength, the elder of the two would become heir and the younger heir-designate.

Until Kyrahm had started displaying mage-talents there had never been a heir-designate, but when he was tested, he and his elder brother, Rydan, had powers of equal measure. None of his male cousins, numerous as they were, had any powers at all.

As for women, well, the woman found to be the most powerful mage would marry the heir, be she common, noble, rich, poor, comely, or flea-infested. Granted, the only importance of a woman was to bear an heir with mage powers so her looks and dowry were of no importance, and many women would be glad to warm the bed of royalty so there was rarely any problem with this. In fact, his grandmother had been from common stock, fresh off the farm. His grandfather had sired two sons on her, and as soon as it was sure that both would survive to adulthood she had been "taken care of". What that meant, he didn't want to dwell on.

Kyrahm didn't pay any attention to where his feet were leading him until he saw that he was in the royal apartments. _May as well take her to my workroom and get it over with,_ he thought to himself, and began winding his way towards his training rooms. Unfortunatly, he'd have to pass through his own suite to get there.

Glancing behind him, he saw the girl was struggling to keep up with his ground-devouring pace. Feeling slightly guilty, he slowed some, but when the girl looked up at him finally, he saw the stark terror on her face. Even a man, raised to shun all emotion, could not help but pity her.

He led her to a small windowed alcove, one of the few that held benches rather than a statue. He let go of her arm and directed her to sit on one of the cushioned benches. She sat on the very edge, as far away from him as she could physically get without trying to run away. Sighing, Kyrahm took a seat opposite her, glancing around to make sure no one was in ear-shot. He also set up a small magical alarm that would let him know if anyone was approaching them.

"I'm not going to harm you."

Rhyanna shook her head in disbelief, "What?"

"I said, I am not going to hurt you. Are you deaf?"

"No" Rhyanna murmured, dropping her gaze.

"Look, what happened in the forest, I won't apologize for, but I won't consciously repeat it either."

Gaining some courage, if not trust, "How do I know that?"

"You will just to have to trust me. Plain and simple."

"And if I don't?"

"That is your problem to deal with not mine. Speaking of problems, you and I have several which need to be discussed. First, you and I have a single year to train you to be an adept level mage."

"I have had some training," she admitted.

"From who?"

"My mother."

"Hmmm…" Kyrahm stared out of the window for a moment. No he couldn't tell her now, but he would someday. If Rhyanna was truly an Aheline, then he knew her mother quite well unfortunately. His own father, and in fact his grandfather and great-grandfather, had spent their lifetimes seeking out, and ridding themselves of the Anheline family.

Rhyanna's head snapped up at a snort of contemptuous laughter, "Exactly what was that for, pray tell?"

"Just a random thought." Kyrahm replied diffidently.

"Fine then, what about my training then?"

"I will start by testing what you do and do not know, and we'll go from there. In fact, in light of what I saw you were capable of in the forest, this may not be so daunting a task. The rest of the problems we will discuss as they arise. Follow me."

Kyrahm rose once more, disarming his "alarms", and began making his way towards his work-room. Rhyanna fell into step just behind him For all that she was in her own way a rather powerful mage, she had some gaping holes in her training. First of all, while she could shield herself completely from him, she did not have any unconscious shielding to keep out those who would meddle with her mind without her ever knowing it. Her mind-voice kept buzzing in the back of his mind, and while he tried to ignore it, curiosity got the better of him and he began to listen. His feet could make their way to his rooms without his mind to tell them where to go.

Questions kept chasing themselves round and round in her mind. :_Where is he taking me? Where am I in the first place? What is he going to do with me? Why is my surname such a horrid thing? I want to go home! Where are we going? What does he mean by training? Will anyone explain this to me. I just want to leave!_:

:_You're broadcasting your thoughts to anyone who cares to hear, girl. Shield yourself, PLEASE!_: the masculine voice said into Rhyanna's mind again.

"I'm sorry," she spoke.

"For what?" Kyrahm asked, confused by her sudden statement.

"For not shielding, you just told me that everyone could hear what I was thinking"

"I could certainly hear what you were thinking, as much as I tried not to, but it wasn't me who told you to shield. I assumed you couldn't"

"Oh" she said softly, "Then who was it?"

"That you will have to figure out for yourself. I cannot tell you who or what was speaking to you because I didn't hear them."

Rhyanna put up some basic shielding and followed Kyrahm through a doorway into what was obviously his rooms. They defiantly had a masculine touch to them. Various hunting trophies hung from the walls. Weapons were on display near the fireplace, and surprisingly there was an entire wall covered, floor to ceiling, with books. The furniture was large, dark, and mostly leather, all old enough to have seen better days. Kyrahm did not stop here, but abruptly turned to the right, through a door hidden by the bookcases.

This room, unlike the one they had just left, was almost entirely bare. A few books were on a shelf and in the middle of the room there was a square table with a bench on either side. On the table was the largest piece of tiger-eye that Rhyanna had seen. Obviously this was his focus stone, and this room was his workroom.

"Sit" he ordered.

Numbly, Rhyanna sat on one of the benches while Kyrahm took the other.

"Do you have a focus stone?"

"A what?"

"A focus stone. A gem that you can store energy in or use to focus your power."

"Oh, ah, no, I don't" Rhyanna replied, fearful that if she revealed the fact that he necklace was just that, he'd take it from her.

"Fine then, we'll work without one"

The next couple hours were spent in him making her perform various magical tasks, increasing in complexity and skill until she reached a point where she could barely function. He was ruthless, pushing her far beyond the point where they should have stopped. He requested another spell, and Rhyanna focused on his eyes to strengthen her resolve to complete the task. She could feel her shields slipping, and she didn't have the energy to restore them. Unbidden, the memories of their first encounter filled her mind as the blue of his eyes threatened to overwhelm her.

Kyrahm felt her shields falter then fall and since his shielding was at a minimum to evaluate her skills he couldn't stop the onslaught of her memories. Surprisingly, they were of their first encounter. He felt her arousal at his touch and she felt his at the sight of her in her soaking wet shift. He was almost exhausted as she, even with the ley-lines around him to draw on for energy, and he didn't have the strength to push those powerful feelings away.

Rhyanna unconsciously, licked her dry lips, then closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, trying to not let those memories affect her again. Kyrahm watched her soft, pink tongue caress those soft lips. Her eyes closed, and she took a deep breath and he couldn't help but watch her chest rise and fall. Without thinking he slid over to the bench Rhyanna was sitting on.

Her eyes followed his every moment, but didn't make any move to avoid him. In a moment, he was face to face with her. Slowly he reached out and caressed her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned into the caress. Her skin was flushed and warm under his fingers. He leaned in and captured her delicate lips with his own. Hers were soft and his lips felt rough against hers. His lips opened slightly and his tongue met no resistance.

Suddenly Kyrahm was back in the forest, surrounded by a sea of green. Scents warred to gain his attention; birdsong assaulted his ears from all directions. Off in the distance he could hear the roar of a hunting cat and the scream of a hawk. He was totally lost in her world once again.

Kyrahm wrapped his arms around the girl's waist and pulled her to him. His strength startled Rhyanna and shocked her into reality once again. She didn't even know this man and for the second time he aroused feelings in her that had no business being aroused by a stranger. When he went to kiss her again she put her hands against her chest and tried to push him away, but he was far stronger than she.

When the kiss ended, Kyrham opened his eyes to see her green eyes wide in alarm and fear. Suddenly he came back to himself and jumped up, upsetting the table and sending the stone flying across the room where it hit the wall with enough force to split it neatly into two pieces. He didn't know what had come over him, she was beautiful enough to give any of the court beauties a run for their money, but they had never had this effect on him. What in the world was going on here? He most certainly did **not** like having his thoughts and actions played with.

"Leave NOW!" he yelled at her.

Frightened the Rhyanna just sat there frozen in place by his abrupt mood swing. She had no clue where she was let alone how to get back to her room.

"Incompetent wench," he grumbled then stormed from the room. After a few moments of disturbing silence, a servant came in, a young boy, and gestured for her to follow him.

_How could I be so damn weak?_ Kyrahm grumbled to himself as he flung himself on to his bed, boots and all. _She's as good as promised to my _**brother**_ and I'm putting moves on her!_ _Not to mention I'm supposed to spend the next year in constant contact with this girl training her. This is insane. _Suddenly a thought popped into his mind. _This is a test! This is nothing but a test of my loyalty to my brother. They're probably laughing it up right now! Damn them! Damn them! Damn them!_ He slammed his fist into the bed soundlessly. The task was daunting enough without the complications of attraction.

§

Rhyanna was led back to her room in a daze. One moment he was kissing her, stroking her cheek in the way a lover would, and then the next he was screaming at her to get out. Not only that, but she couldn't even make sense of her own emotions. One moment she was afraid that he would try to take advantage of her and a few moments later she was almost wishing he would. Confusing swirled though her mind, and before she knew it, she was back in her own room. She was still in a daze when Ella dressed her for bed. It wasn't until the curtains were drawn that Rhyanna finally came back to herself.

:_Sleep child. You'll need your rest for tomorrow_: the mysterious voice spoke in her mind.

Startled Rhyanna, finally gathered the courage to reply to the voice:_Who are you?_:

:_Someone who's here to guide you, child_:

:_Why can't I see you:_

:_Because you haven't looked hard enough_:

:_How can I look for something I didn't know existed?_:

The voice chuckled:_Impatient aren't we. You will meet me when you are ready, but for now trust in Kyrahm. For now all you need is the occasional comment_:

:_Him! Why him?_: she asked incredulously, but the masculine voice was silent.


	5. Realizations

Chapter 5

Over the course of the next moon, it was blatantly clear that while Rhyanna was a rather competent mage, it was her social skills that were lacking. His father had not told him that he was to train her in courtly behaviors as well as magic, but a single inquiry was all he needed to know that he would get no outside help in this matter. So now he was teaching her how to dance, eat, walk, speak, as well as teaching her how to throw fire and deflect physical weapons with magical shielding. The one good thing about all of this was that the girl was slowly coming out of her shell and proving to be an intelligent woman. Right now she sat on the other end of an over-stuffed sofa, reading a book on royal lineages and titles.

Kyrahm stared into the fireplace that faced the sofa they were seated on. He had long since lost interest in the dry religions texts in favor of watching the dancing flames and losing himself in his thoughts. Frustratingly, his thoughts, as always, centered around **her**. In the past month she had come leaps and bounds from the "wild" thing he'd encountered in the forest. She had lost some of the tan to her skin, but he doubted that she'd ever be as pale as a highborn, but he kind of liked her standing out.

Shaking his head, Kyrahm tried to turn his thoughts away from her, but a moment later she sighed and shifted her position, unconsciously brushing against him. She brushed her hair away from her face absentmindedly, and tucked it behind her ear. Her hair was long enough that even though she'd tucked it behind her ear it still fell across her bosom. Kyrahm couldn't help but stare at her. Only a month had gone by, but in that month she had reached him in a way she didn't even realize yet.

"Kyrahm?" she inquired

"Hm?" he acknowledged, acting as if he was concentrating on his book.

"It says here that the most powerful female mage must marry the heir. Is that true?"

"Its written in a history book, what do you think?"

"Well, yes it must be then, but what if she is low-born or a criminal?"

"We haven't encountered the criminal situation, but I guess that would depend on the crime. If it were heinous enough to warrant death then we'd be in a real pickle, but I'll leave that to the people who will eventually have to judge that situation. As for the lowborn, well that has happened rather recently. My own grandmother was lowborn. I do not know much about her besides the fact she married my grandfather when she was young, gave birth to my father as well as a girl child who died as an infant, and she died shortly afterwards. My father says that she was too frail to bear the burdens of childbirth."

"Oh, so who is it that your brother will marry?"

Stunned, Kyrahm didn't know how to answer the question, so he answered it the best he could.

"You."

"Me!" she squeaked.

"Yes, you are far above any other girl that we tested. Several traders had felt the presence of a powerful mage in the forest and I was sent to find and, if necessary, destroy that mage. When you turned out to be a girl, well, everything changed. You were brought here, tested, and found to be far stronger than any other."

Rhyanna visibly paled and swallowed, a barely audible, "When?" was all she could manage.

"When your training is finished. A year from the day you were introduced to my father."

"Oh," was her only reply. Her face turned back to the book she'd been reading, but after awhile, Kyrahm noticed that she hadn't turned a single page. On closer evaluation, he saw the tears as they caught the candle light before they hit the satin of her gown

Rhyanna didn't know what to think when she realized that she was to marry **Rydan**. Of all the horrid men there were in this place he had to be one of the worse. Kyrahm didn't know that she knew about his brother, but she and Ella, her servant, had grown rather close in the past moon. She probably gave the servant-girl more freedoms that she should have, but Rhyanna had never had a servant before, especially one who was so young. They talked often in the mornings while she bathed and dressed Rhyanna. The conversation was mostly servant gossip, and most of it unimportant, but there were several stories of some of the more attractive servant girls being raped. This shocked Rhyanna, but Ella seemed to take it as given that it would happen. She'd never told Rhyanna who was raping the girls, but it wasn't long before she had found out.

It was just two days ago; Rhyanna was walking back to her room after her lessons when she encountered Rydan in the hall leading to her room. Protocol demanded that she move aside for the heir and bow until he could no longer see her. Keeping her eyes on the stone floor at her feet she watched his boots enter her view and stop before her. She could smell the sweat from his skin. Then she felt a rough hand tug her hair upwards. She stood. His hair was messed, his clothing rumpled, nothing like the dignified prince she'd seen at her introduction to court.

His eyes, hard as stones, stared her down. Without reason, Rhyanna felt fear rising from her stomach. The hair on the back of her neck rose of its own will. Rydan took a step towards her, devouring every inch of her body with his eyes. She did not like this one bit, but to go against his will would spell death for her. She'd learned much over the past month in this castle. This world had so many rules and costly consequences for breaking those rules even in ignorance. So she stood, rigidly as he undressed her with his eyes. A wicked smile teased the edge of his thin lips. Deftly he drew her to him, and lowered his head to her hair. She easily came to his shoulder with the heels she was wearing so she easily heard him drawing in a deep breath. She shuddered, knowing what was going through his mind. With a gloved finger he lifted her face to meet his. It was like looking the devil square in the eyes.

He looked down his nose at her, "What a pity," were his only words, and, as abruptly as she'd met him, he left. In a daze Rhyanna returned to her room only to hear sobbing coming from Ella's doorway. Rhyanna quickly ran to the door, knocking gently. The sobs stopped briefly.

"Ella?" Rhyanna called.

No response. She turned the handle on the door; it was unlocked. This was Ella's bedroom. Small, plain, but it seemed comfortable. However, lying in the midst of torn clothing was what seemed to be her servant. Her skin was covered in bright red splotches, many of which bore a striking resemblance to the human hand. There were bite marks all over her shoulders. Rhyanna gasped at the sheer number of injuries the girl had. When Ella turned her head, Rhyanna could see that whoever had done this had not spared the girl's face. There was blood streaming from a split lip, her left eye was already swollen shut, and bruises had already started forming on both cheekbones.

"What happened?" Rhyanna demanded with more force than she'd intended.

The girl looked down, "Nothing, mistress"

"Nothing my arse. Nothing doesn't leave you crying, nor does it leave you covered in bruises and blood," it was then she looked down at the sheets to see a brilliant red stain nowhere near the bites or cuts on her face and shoulders. Her eyes shot up to the girls face and her expression told her everything she needed to know.

"Oh, goddess…" Rhyanna's voice trailed off, and Ella began crying once more. She simply held the girl until she had no more tears left. She then lifted her and took her to the bathing room.

"Mistress, you can't…I'm just…"

"Shush now, there's no one here to see and I quite frankly don't care who does anyways."

Rhyanna walked into the bath, not caring if her skirts got wet, and set the girl in a sitting position so that the hot waters came up to her neck. She then went over the cabinets where she'd seen Ella get soaps and towels from so often. When she returned the girl had started crying again, but Rhyanna handed the girl some soap and went to work on her hair.

A couple hours later found Ella and Rhyanna relaxing in front of the fireplace, a drink, which Ella called _chava_ in hand, and soft pillows under them. Neither said a word, but nothing needed to be said. Rhyanna knew full well what had happened and who had done it.

§

"Rhyanna?" Kyrahm called.

She shook her head, back in reality. She wiped the tears from her face that the memory combined with the realization that she would be married to the man who raped a mere girl had called up.

"Rhyanna, what is it?" he asked

"Nothing"

"Ha! I've had that line used on me before, and while, many women will cry for no reason, you do not strike me as one. Tell me, what is so horrible about marrying the heir to an entire kingdom. You will one day be a queen. A far cry from running wild in the woods if I may say."

Angry at his assumptions, "And what if I do not want to be a queen?"

"Not want to be a queen? You do not have a choice, my dear."

"As if any woman has a choice…" she murmured low enough that she thought he wouldn't hear.

"No, they don't. I know that you speak far too much to your servant, and whatever she has told you about my brother is untrue. He may be gruff and a bit cold, but that is the way an heir must be. Otherwise anyone could manipulate him."

Fearful of further repercussions for Ella, "She has told me nothing of the sort."

"I should hope not. The girl must be reminded of her place."

"She has been," Rhyanna replied weakly, tears coursing down her face once more.

Kyrahm slid off of the sofa to kneel before her, "I apologize, my rudeness was not necessary. You are obviously bothered by this, and it is a lot for any one person to take it, but take heart, this does not happen for nearly a year. You have plenty of time yet."

With those words, Kyrahm reached up and brushed a tear from her cheek. Without thinking, Rhyanna leaned into the caress, raising her deep-green eyes to meet his blue. They were a touch red from the crying, but that did not make her any less beautiful. Slowly, Kyrahm leaned forward. Her eyes darted around his face, looking for some sort of reassurance, and finding it, she too leaned forward. Their eyes closed as their lips met. Her soft, warm lips seemed to fit perfectly with his. The kiss was far too brief for his liking, and he opened his eyes as she pulled away gently. Again, he fell into the pools of verdant. _Oh no!_ A part of him yelled. _Oh yes!_ Another part called back. The latter part one, and slipping into those pools he closed his eyes once more and drew her lips to his for a gently passionate kiss. This time she didn't pull away, but instead, responded with a passion to match his own.


	6. Deception

_Sorry y'all! Who knew that teaching tenagers their algebra could be such hard work? Anyways, summer's almost here so I should be able to write a lot more then. Thanks to those of your who reviewed! I really apprecieate it. ) _

* * *

Chapter 6

Rydan bowed before his king and father, "What is it you required, my lord?" he asked keeping his eyes to the floor. Ambitious he may be, but stupid he was not. To show any sign of ambition or the slightest inkling of rebellion would be the end of him. He knew his father too well to allow himself to slip even the minutest amount.

"Sit." Rydan sat in the chair across from his father. They were in his study so that meant that while this meeting was important, it was not entirely formal.

"I wished to discuss your consort."

Rydan snorted, "What about her did you wish to discuss?"

The king laughed silkily, "From your reaction, I take it you are not pleased? You do know that even as the king of this realm, I am not above the law. She is far and away the strongest mage-girl of age. The strength of the magic she holds has not been seen since the days of…" his voice trailed off leaving the rest of the sentence unspoken but understood.

Rydan pushed himself out of the chair and began to pace the rug leading from his father's desk to the carved mahogany doors through which he had just entered. "How can I possibly stand one moment of **marriage** to a mere girl. A…a child who has grown up in the wilds! She already stands out among the court. Kyrahm says that he's been educating her in courtly manners, but she shows little improvement. While I will admit that she's attractive enough. She cannot converse with any of the nobility without offending them in some way or another. She shows the barest hint of civility when dining, and least of all is her inability to keep her own servants in line, " Rydan turned back to his father, "She will be nothing but an embarrassment regardless her potential as a mage. Assuming she manages to not seriously insult any of the courtiers and actually lives through the next year."

Before he could get any further in his rant the king stood, "You will remove that thought from your mind before I remove it for you!" he roared.

Rydan sat abruptly again.

"Gods, to imagine you are my heir," Corez threw his hands into the air, "Have you learned no magic at all boy! I know you may not care for the wench, but she is attractive enough, even you admit that, and at best, in a year she will be a partially trained mage. If you can't control a 'child', as you call her, you will never be able to control a kingdom. Dammit boy, all you need her for is an heir. Preferably two, in case, but other than that, what you do with her is your decision. However, you **will** marry her, and you **will** father a child upon her."

Rydan nodded absentmindedly. He heard his father, but he was deep in thought. He wanted nothing to do with the girl. Yes, she was attractive, but that did not mean that he wanted to marry her. He had to think of a way to be rid of her.

Corez watched his eldest son. He knew the ideas that were flowing through his mind without even having to try to read it. Corez knew he son well and knew what his son's tastes were. As long as he chose his past-times from the servants or the girls in the town, he would overlook it. Every man deserved a little fun now and again, but Rydan would have to take care with his "wife". Any outward signs of damage would immediately put suspicion on him, and her death, well it would have to be planned carefully. Corez knew that Rydan had no intentions of staying married to the chit, but Corez had every intention of ensuring that his son did go through with the marriage in the first place. With plans half formed, Corez left his study. The business of running a kingdom waited on no one.

Glancing around to make sure he wasn't being watched, Rydan quickly cast a spell, a simple yet effective spell that would mask his movements. Essentially, it caused anyone who looked at him to dismiss him from their memories, and as long as he didn't draw attention to himself purposely, no one would remember him passing. Quickly he ducked through a servant's hallway and found himself in kitchens. Grabbing a simple cloak from a peg near a doorway and began the short trek into the town surrounding the castle.

* * *

Darek was a simple, elderly barkeep. He wasn't strong enough to push away any of the rougher clientle, but that's not why he was hired in the first place. No, he was hired because he could sense the thoughts and feelings of others. He may not have been able to knock heads together, but he kept the peace in this tavern. Anyone who wanted to start a fight or proposition the wrong person quickly found himself hauled to his feet and show the door. Right now Darek watched a pair of men who had tucked themselves at a table in the darkest corner of the room. One man was cloaked head to toe in a fabric that just didn't fit in down here. He couldn't place his finger on why, but he just knew it was out of place. The other man, however, was a usual customer, and not a savory one at that. Darek knew the man said that he was a day laborer picking up odd jobs wherever he could, but he'd never believed that. The man carried one too many scars for that line of work.

The men were deep in conversation. Darek could sense the maliciousness in their thoughts, but he couldn't discern who it was directed towards. The cloaked man fairly dripped with hatred, and try as much as he might, Darek just couldn't read him. The men reached an agreement and the cloaked man passed a small bag to the other, and as it was pocketed, Darek heard the familiar chink of coins. They stood, and Darek's customer left while the cloaked man approached him.

"Can I git ye anythin'?" Darek asked.

"No." the man replied and reached out to touch him. A wave of darkness washed over him leaving emptiness in its wake.

The wave passed, and Darek shook his head to clear it. There was something he needed to remember, but couldn't place his finger on it. Well, if it was important he'd remember it. Noticing a pair of empty mugs on a table in the back corner, he grabbed a rag from under the bar and went to retrieve the errant glasses.

* * *

As summer burned itself out, Rhyanna fell into pace with the world around her. She still did not understand her world, but she at least knew how to avoid many of its traps. Her days were mostly a blur of lessons. When she awoke, Ella would dress her for the day and she would bring her breakfast. From there it was mage lessons until Ella brought lunch. At least Kyrahm would only quiz her about various intricacies of magic during the meal rather than asking her to perform them. After that he would drill her in "courtly" manners until she had regained her energy and then it was back to mage practice until she became so weak that she could hardly keep her shields up. 

She had to give him credit for being beyond patient and an excellent judge of her skills. He would push her to the point of collapse but not one iota further. In fact he'd been completely distant and formal with her since she had learned that she was to marry his brother. Not that she could blame him. What kind of man would steal his brother's future wife. Somehow Rhyanna found herself wishing he would, but if he did would he still be the kind of man he was? She shook her head. She was only chasing her own tail in these thoughts, and they were doing nothing but distracting her from the task at hand. Her escape.

:_At it again are you:_ a voice purred in her mind.

:_What is it to you:_ she replied

The voice laughed. This wasn't the first time he'd peeked into her thoughts while she was trying to get out of this place. She didn't fit and as much as she enjoyed the lessons, she knew their ultimate goal was to train her into a proper wife for a man who had brutally raped her only friend.

:_You know that you can not leave this place. He tracks your every movement and will know the moment you leave your room.:_

Rhyanna had actually tried to run away once before. In fact, it was that same night that she'd learned the purpose of her being here. Not knowing where she was going she'd wandered from hall to hall looking for any door that led outside. Unfortunatly she had not thought beyond getting outside and no soon had she found a door to her freedom then a guard had snatched her from behind. She kicked and screamed to be let go, but she was no match for a trained fighter. He had hauled her, screaming the whole way, back to her room where Kyrahm was awaiting her. He was angry beyond reason and lectured her as if she were a simpleton who had just killed his favorite pet. Since then he'd placed a magical tracking charm on her. Now if she moved a single step out of her permitted areas, Kyrahm would be alerted and he had promised that he would not be so gentle on her a second time. The fury in his voice had stopped her from acting, but they couldn't stop her from planning.

:_So are you going to tell me who you are now:_ Rhyanna asked, changing the subject.

He laughed again:_Do you ever ask new questions: _

:_Not until I get the answers to the old one.:_ she teased.

Oddly enough Rhyanna had developed an easy friendship with the owner of the voice in her head. Somehow, she knew she could trust him and he would never lead her astray. She felt he slip from her mind once more, and now thoroughly distracted from her plans of escape, Rhyanna sighed and snuggled herself further under the covers of her bed. For all that this life was comfortable, it all paled to the simplicity of freedom.

:_RHYANNA!_:

Rhyanna's eyes flew open at the mental shout. Pain blossomed in her chest. Dumbly, she looked down to see the moonlight from her window gleaming off of the hilt of a small dagger protruding from her chest, just below her left collarbone. Darkness clouded her vision as pain overwhelmed her consciousness drowning her in a deep abyss.

Someone was flinging himself against his shielding frantically. Kyrahm looked up from his book, as if he were searching for an intruder, but this intruder was a magical one not physical. Kyrahm reinforced his shielding reflexively, but the intruder doubled his efforts taking out his shields as if they were naught but the thinnest of veils. After another few moments of struggle, the intruder broke through. Kyrahm readied himself for battle, adrenaline fueling his magic.

:_Rhyanna needs you, NOW!_: the intruder shouted into his mind and then he was gone. Kyrahm had no idea who this could have been. No one could have torn through his shields like that, but now was not the time to debate events that has already happened. Kyrahm leapt from his chair and threw himself down the familiar halls to Rhyanna's suite.

Her door was locked. Forcing himself to calm down, Kyrahm knocked. After all, who's to say that his mysterious visitor had been telling the truth. No answer. He knocked louder, still nothing. Now he was sure something was wrong. Calling on his fears, Kyrahm magically cut through the locks on the door. Shoving the door open he saw Rhyanna slumped in her bed as if she were asleep. It was only the spreading crimson stain and the hilt protruding from her chest that told him otherwise. Rushing to her Kyrahm felt her neck for a heartbeat. After a long moment he found it. Very weak, but there. She was still alive, but not for much longer. There was no way he'd get to a healer fast enough. Nearly in tears, Kyrahm felt the intruder in his mind once more.

:_Boy, you have the strength to heal her and I have the skills. Let me fully into your mind and we can heal her together._:

:_How do I know you're not the one who did this to her?_:

:_I would never do anything to harm a Anhline heir, but you will just have to trust me. If you do not, she will die._:

Without healing she would surely die, that much was true, but was he willing to risk losing his own life in trusting that this stranger would heal her? _Yes,_ his mind answer for him.

Kyrahm dropped all of his shields, and felt the intruder take over his mind. His own consciousness withdrew to a corner of his mind and allowed the intruder to take control of him. He watched as he placed his hands over the hilt sticking out of Rhyanna's chest. A soft golden glow covered his hands and leeched over Rhyanna's chest. He could sense a great age from the intruder, he, whatever he was, was ancient.

* * *

_Join us again next time...same bat time, same bat channel. Oh wait...sorry, wrong story. Hehe! Hope you enjoyed this chappie._


	7. Aftermath

_mugglepirate- Thank you for your review! I didn't expect one so quickly. ) Sorry, but I'm leaving the identity of my "intruder" for a later part of the story. Don't worry, we'll get to it. _

_My apologies in advance if this chapter isn't as grammatically correct as the previous ones...I teach math for a reason guys! lol...mebbe I could get one of the English teachers to proof these...hmm...lost in thought Owell, I hope you enjoy anyways...and if something doens't make sense lemme know and I'll either explain it, or fix it. hehehe...bon appitie!_

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Chapter 7

A golden glow crept its way over Rhyanna's chest, bathing her face in an almost eerie way. In the detached part of his mind where Kyrahm's conscious currently resided, he noticed that Rhyanna was slowly gaining color in her face. Through the glow from the healing let him see her lips turning a warm, delicate, pink. Her chest began to rise and fall in a steady pace. It was then that Kyrahm realized that he was staring right at her chest without reason because the knife was in his hands.

:_Thank you_: Kyrham heard in his head.

Shaken out of his thoughts, Kyrahm barely had time to register the fact that he was alone in his own mind again. :_Wait!_: he called out, but he was too late. Whoever had invaded his thoughts was gone. Kyrham tried to trace the mental link they had shared, but it had been severed completely and left to drift.

Kyrham wasn't given much time to dwell on the mysterious benefact. Rhyanna was stirring from her unnatural sleep. Suddenly she thrashed out at him. Her eyes were open, but there was no sense in them. Her body was near glowing again, but this time it was with a vibrant green energy. Kyrahm could hear the thrum of magical energy radiating from the girl before him.

:_Rhyanna:_

No response. Her eyes were open, and she was doing something magically, but she wasn't conscious. Suddenly her body began to lift from the bed, her covers slipping off as she rose. Kyrahm glanced around the room. Anything that was relatively small was also rising. Some of the larger items were beginning to vibrate as they too struggled to rise. Kyrahm tentatively reached a hand out to try to keep Rhyanna from rising too far. The touch of his hand against the skin of her arm was the catalyst. Rhyanna shrieked and everything in the room began to dance madly as if some insane puppet-master was trying to operate all of the furniture at one. Kyrahm leapt as the chair he was seated on jumped up from under him. As the shrill scream rose in pitch, the furnishings flung themselves heedlessly around the room. The smaller, more fragile ornaments smashed themselves into walls and larger pieces. Kyrahm watched his chair as it collided furiously with a tall dresser and tear itself to bits. Realizing that it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his own feet on the floor Kyrahm wrapped himself in his strongest shields.

Suddenly Rhyanna's scream cut off and everything smashed into the floor as if they were broken toys a child was no longer interested in. The only thing still in the air was Rhyanna herself. Now glowing so brightly that Kyrahm could hardly look at her, but what he could see frightened even him. She was standing upright in her nightgown. The red stain of her blood trailing across the front from the hole the knife had left. Her hair flung out wildly, her arms raised to either side, but what frightened Kyrahm the most was the utter despair in her eyes. Tears streamed down her cheeks, yet her eyes remained bright. The green of her irises was as vibrant as a new spring leaf, but there was no room for anything besides grief and rage in those eyes. Caught in them Kyrahm watched as she pulsed once, snapping her head back and shooting the light that surrounded her down through the floor. For a moment that seemed to drag on for an eternity, Kyrahm could see nothing in the sudden darkness, but just as his eyes adjusted enough to make out the outline of Rhyanna's body still floating the entire castle shuddered and shook. Kyrahm could hear the grating of the stone blocks that supported the castle then the crash as windows shattered everywhere. Next came the cries of various individuals frightened by the sudden violence that shook the very bones of a castle. As suddenly as it had begun, it was over. Time snapped into its normal pace and Rhyanna dropped from the air. Kyrahm dove to break her fall, but was only able to catch her head and sholders. The rest landed in a crumpled heap on the floor.

"Rhyanna!" :_Ryanna_: Kyrahm's mind and voice called. Still no response. Her lips were blue once more, and her skin was as cold as ice. Shaken at the ferocity of what had just occurred, Kyrahm just held the slight girl. He shifted her so that he could hold her more comfortably in his lap with her legs dangling over the side and her head against his chest. Let the others care for themselves, she needed him and she needed all of him. Her hair was damp from the sheer amount of energy she had expended. How she was able to call forth that much energy was beyond him. _Wait, she had to have drawn upon the node beneath the castle to do all of that!_ Sinking his consciousness into the ground beneath the castle he found emptiness. Nothing! The node had not only been completely drained, but all of the ley lines that led to it had been obliterated. All that was left was a fine mist of energy that sat over everything. It was like someone had boiled an entire lake **and** all of the streams and rivers leading to it leaving only the steam behind. Unlike water, however, magic did not condense as quickly. It would take months for the ley-lines to reform and begin filling the node again. Kyrahm reached out to see how far out the damage went. Thankfully, the damage didn't seem too wide spread. There were two smaller nodes nearby and both of those were mostly intact.

Sinking his consciousness back into his body, Kyrahm opened his eyes to find an angry father and brother standing before him, and a very harried looking servant-girl.

"What in name of hell happened here!" his father demanded.

"I do not know." Kyrahm replied weakly, still holding the girl in his arms.

"What do you mean you don't know? The girl is your charge and she completely destroys the node beneath this very castle. A node that she is **not** even keyed to! Then I receive reports from all over the castle of damage from some sort of earthquake that started in this very room. Not to mention the fact that I walk into what looks to be a war-zone to find my second son cradling his brother's betrothed as if she were his own!" he shouted in Kyrahm's face.

"My deepest apologies sire. What I do know is that someone attacked Rhyanna and attempted to kill her," he pointed to the blood-stained hole in her shift, "She called to me just before the would be murderer stabbed her. I came as fast as I could, but I was too late. The assassin was already gone and I felt that her life was important enough to try to save. I healed her, but she would not wake. From that point she began to levitate her self and the objects in this room. What happened after that, I cannot describe in words nor explain. I truly do not know what occurred or why it occurred. I will interrogate her when she awakes, but she is so drained that she will need constant care. Girl," Kyrahm turned to she stricken maid, "remake the bed and fetch a warming brick." The girl took off, all to obviously grateful to be away from the three men.

Rydan simply looked down at his brother and the girl in his arms with utter contempt as the servant scurried from the room. _Damn._ The girl his brother held in his arms was most definitely alive.

"It would seem that Kyrahm has things well in hand. Shall I begin a search for the would-be assassin?" His father nooded. He bowed briefly to his father and left, trying not to seem to be in too much of a rush.

Quickly, Rydan made his out of the guest quarters and towards, not the royal suites, but towards the suites that housed visiting ambassadors. Currently there was only one from a kingdom to the west and south, but the man was old and, Rydan thought, a tad bit daft. Upon reaching the hall of ambassadors, Rydan peaked over his shoulder to make sure the coast was clear before tugging on one of the mounted candleholders. With a soft click a hairline crack appeared around the full-sized portrait of some old, dead, guy. Rydan laughed at himself, "Why not create a magically hidden passage," his "employee" had asked once. Rolling his eyes at the man's ignorance, "Because the magic hiding it would act like a sign to any mage walking through this hallway. He would detect the magic and wonder why it was there."

Hiding a secret passageway conventionally may be harder, but it was infinitely more effective. Rydan had created this passage himself, magically of course, during one of his father's trips to exterminate any of the old royal line. Rydan pushed the scone back into place before moving towards the portrait. Failing to do so would result in several tiny darts to shoot from the base of the scone. There were five in all, each no larger than a sewing needle, and each dipped in poison so potent that even dried it could fell a man with a single dart. When he approached the portrait he was careful to only touch the frame. Touching the paint would result in death as well. Mixed with the paint was a potent disease. While the disease would take longer than the poison to kill, it would incapacitate any intruder within minutes. This disease was nasty in that it traveled straight to the brain stem to feast upon the flesh there. Since the brain stem controls "unconscious" motor controls any victim would soon find it extremely difficult to walk, let alone run. Rydan grinned at the viciousness of the disease. Leave it to the most miniscule of things to cause the greatest suffering.

Next, Rydan pushed the painting straight back a single hand-span then shifted it slightly to the left before continuing. Failing to do this would lock the passage. Not as mean, but certainly effective. Before Rydan lay a narrow passage that led to a simple root cellar on the edge of the castle. It was easy enough to slip in and out of the cellar since servants rarely visited it and the door lead out to a secluded section of the kitchen gardens surrounded by vines and various other forms of greenery. Rydan strode down the passage way knowing it stone for stone, and listen briefly before entering the cellar and once more before opening the doors up to the garden. The garden door swung part way open before it struck something. Not hearing anything, Rydan shoved harder figuring it was simply a bag of roots the servants had failed to bring in, however what rolled into view was certainly not a bag of any sort. The sightless eyes of his hired assassin stared up at him. His face was contorted in pure terror, blood had streamed from every opening on his face and had pooled under his head leaving what little hair the man had a congealed mess.

Shocked that any one had known enough to kill the man, Rydan checked the area magically for anyone. Yet, he found no one remotely near by. The closest people Rydan could sense were the slowly calming minds of a family of servants that slept in the kitchen. None of these women would have been able to incapacitate, let alone kill, this man. Rydan checked the body and found not a single physical wound on him, not even a bruise. Whatever had killed him had done so magically. Cautiously, Rydan sank himself into the body before him. His senses sang with magical energy. All of it glowed a deep, vibrant emerald. He could feel a wind as it whipped through the upper-most branches of the trees and he could hear the cracks of branches as they angrily fought against it. The senses threatened to overwhelm him and drag him away with the wind, but Rydan slammed his strongest shields around him. Whatever had done this had literally ripped this man's soul from its body. Staring up at the towers, Rydan knew, without a doubt, who had done this. The question was, did she know she'd done it herself?

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_Review, please? Purty please? Purty please with sugar on top? How about a cherry and whipped cream too? Ok, I'll even throw in sprinkles too! _


	8. Family Ties

_Thanks to my reviewers! You are the reason I keep writing this. ) Hope ya'll enjoy this chapter, we'll get a little bit of the background on the story and well, I guess you'll just have to read it to figure out what else there is. The story is going to pick up the pace some...I kinda thought it was slow. ) _

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Chapter 8

A week had passed since Rhyanna had turned the castle upside down and she remained blissfully aware of that fact. Everyone else, however, was left to pick up the pieces. Rydan's search into who had tried to murder her had turned up nothing more than some very faint traces that indicated that whoever it was had been magically sent and retrieved. He had said that Rhyanna's residual energy coated everything virtually covering up most other magical energy. Some of the larger ley-lines had barely begun to collect energy once again, but the smaller lines and the node under the castle remained empty. Kyrahm had been ordered to keep an eye on Rhyanna and to enlist the aid of villagers in repairing various parts of the castle. The shattered windows remained open. It would be another moon before the first set would be finished.

Kyrahm was on his way to his father's study. His father had taken to inquiring about "the girl's" condition daily. Not that there was much to report, but still he felt that it was his duty because she was in his charge. The guards halted Kyrahm. One slipped inside to inform his father that he was waiting while the other remained on guard. Kyrahm studied the doors before him. It was a wonderful piece of art. It had been commissioned by the castle's previous owners. The overall design was a large, leafless tree. The trunk of the tree was split through the center where the doors would open. The roots of the tree were entwined along the bottom edge of the door and around the bottom corners. The branches extended across the center and all the way to the top and edges. Each branch had been carved with excruciating care. Even from a distance, a person with average eyesight would be able to follow a specific branch from the trunk all the way to the edge of the door. As magnificent as the tree itself was, it was the boarder that intrigued Kyrahm the most. It was strikingly plain compared to the grandeur of the rest, but it contained three patterns woven together. What these patterns represented was something he couldn't figure out, but the overall effect made the boarder look as if there were flames dancing in a slight breeze floating over a river. Kyrahm, took a step closer to the door thinking that if he could look closer he might find something new. The guard eyed him warily, but no sooner had he begun to lean toward the door before it opened. The guard beckoned him inside.

"Since I had to send for you, I assume that she has not awakened." Corez said absentmindedly.

"Yes, sire." Kyrahm responded automatically.

"I want you to test her again."

"What?"

"You heard me boy! I want her tested again. Obviously you missed something the first time you tested her. Even unconscious she nearly tore this castle apart. I want to know exactly what her abilities are." Corez whirled around and faced his younger son. "I sense that there is something more to this girl than you've told me."

"But sire, that would require me to invade her mind and with her unconscious who knows what traps lay in there." Kyrahm's eyes went wide at the idea of losing his own consciousness inside another's mind.

"Then you should have tested her more thoroughly the first time. You are too easy on her. When will you learn to take what you desire from those who do not have the strength to hold on to it? You insist that others choose for themselves, but not everyone has the capability of doing that. That is what makes you royalty. You were born into a family that has the ability to do what's needed and take power from those who cannot handle it." Corez admonished his younger son. When would the boy learn?

"Yes, sire. She is very near to a Master class now, but without the node available, her training will be delayed significantly." Kyrahm replied smoothly as he felt a touch test his own shields. _So he doesn't trust me. If he knew that this girl was an Anhiline descendant that would be the end of her. I must find out more of her past in order to better protect her. Why am I even thinking of protecting her? She's by far more powerful than I. Why would she even accept the protection of her captor? _

The silence between Kyrahm and his father grew, each looking at each other as if they were two dogs sizing each other up before a battle of dominance. However, Kyrahm knew his place and his abilities. He would not risk anything in an outright battle of wills or mage-power. It was not that his father would crush him, actually it would be a very well matched battle, but he was not the heir and would never be. If he were to actually defeat his father, Rydan would plant a dagger, magical or otherwise, in his back. There was no love lost between him and his brother, and Kyrahm was well aware of what would happen to him once his brother ascended to the throne.

"Test her again, before she wakes, then report your findings to me." Corez commanded.

"Yes, sire" Kyrahm bowed and made his way back through the magnificent doors without a backwards look.

§

Rhyanna drifted. She didn't know where she was, whether it was day or night, or how long she'd been wherever she was, but oddly she didn't seem to care either. She relaxed and lay in what felt like the edge of a river. The water that caressed her body was as cold as death, just like everything around her. It was as if a mist clouded everything, rendering the world a uniform color. The water tugged at Rhyanna's night dress, coaxing her deeper into the water. Right now it covered her ears as it passed her head to caress her shoulders. When she had gained some awareness the water had only tickled the back of her neck and the heels of her feet. Off in the distance Rhyanna heard a bell ring. A mix of loss and comfort filled Rhyanna's soul. She wanted desperately to cry, but found she was unable to. Suddenly, she felt a presence. Something or someone was nearby.

Kyrahm drew a stool up next to Rhyanna's bed. She lay there peacefully. Emma, the servant-girl had faithfully bathed and dressed her daily, and he could smell the sweet lavender scent that the soaps left behind. If it weren't for the steady rise and fall of her chest, Kyrahm would have though she was dead. Her skin was ice-cold and far too pale for comfort, and her lips were a very unhealthy shade of blue. Steeling himself, Kyrahm dropped his shields and let himself fall into a light trance. From there he pushed his consciousness down and outward and after a moment he could see himself sitting rigidly next to the bed that held Rhyanna's body. Everything had a dusting of magic. This was how the world looked to his mage-sight and since his conciousness was part of that mage-gift, whenever he "left" his body the world took on the various colors of magic. However, when he looked down at the sleeping girl, there was an unnatural void of all magical energy.

He dropped himself into Rhyanna's mind without resistance. He jumped at the sudden shock of ice water soaking his boots. Everything around him was grey. If he didn't know his feet were still there by the feel of the water, he would have never known it. He couldn't even see his own hand before his face. Off in the distance he heard the light tones of a bell. A small bell if sound was any indication of size. Off in the distance he could see a curtain being parted. Through the part was utter darkness except for whatever was coming through the gap. A blinding light chased a dark streak through the mist. Time slowed to a crawl as the dark streak abruptly turned around, dragging something. The light flung itself at the darkness but it was to no avail. Kyrahm tried to run to help, but the water clung to his boots like quicksand. He could move no faster than a slow walk, but he was driven to reach whatever it was before him.

Urgency grew in the pit of his stomach and he had no understanding of it. Kyrahm pushed himself harder. Somehow he knew that whatever it was needed his help desperately. The two lights battled each other, the prey temporarily forgotten. Kyrahm just hoped he could make it in time. As he drew closer, the mists parted further and further. At first all he could see were the dark and light streaks of light, but soon he noticed a human figure lying in the water temporarily forgotten.

A clawed hand grasped her ankle and dragged her further into the water. Oddly, Rhyanna didn't care until the water closed over her face and she couldn't breath. She kicked and thrashed, but the vice-like grip did not loosen. Her lungs burned for air as a streak of white light impacted whatever it was holding her. Suddenly she was forgotten and naturally floated to the surface. Once she could breathe again, she calmed down and just lay there mesmerized by the dueling lights above her. She couldn't tell who was winning assuming that one of them was, but she was content to watch the display. Her mind drifted off again for who knows how long, until she felt a gentle pair of hands lift her shoulders and drag her back towards the shallower end of the water.

As Kyrahm neared the figure lying in the water, it took only a moment to realize that the figure was Rhyanna. Without distracting the combatants, Kyrahm took hold of her and began to slowly drag her towards the shallower end of the water. She was a lead weight in his hands. The water tugged at his ankles as if they were coaxing him to just let her go. Somehow he knew that if he did, she'd never awaken. Finally, after what seemed to be ages, Kyrahm reached a point where the water didn't even cover his boots. He knelt next to Rhyanna to keep her from drifting away again. He didn't think he'd have the strength to fetch her a second time.

A shrill scream broke over the mist followed by a hawk's cry of victory. The battle he'd left had ended, but Kyrahm was unable to see which had won. Right now, that didn't seem to matter. Rhyanna in this world was just as lifeless as the Rhyanna on the bed beside the body he'd left behind. Kyrahm began to worry. Normally when he visited the spirit realm he would walk the pathways of the sky. This world was totally foreign to him, and being honest with himself, he had no clue how he got here or how to get back. Delving into his memories, Kyrahm tried hard to recall this place. Anything at all would help. _What spirit realms are covered in water? Well, the realms above the seas are, but we're on land so that cannot be right. The realm of death has a river in it, but it is not totally covered in water. Granted, no one alive knows what is beyond the Veil. Could we have accidentally traveled beyond the Veil?_ Kyrahm shook his head. _Rhyanna's spirit would be alive if we were. Where are we?_

A light pierced through the mists parting them the way a performer would part the curtains on a stage. A woman gowned in silver stars stepped through. Her hair matched her gown and cascaded over her shoulders in long, looping curls, but her face looked no older than Rhyanna's. Kyrahm's gaze was caught in the woman's eyes. They were the same vibrant emerald that Rhyanna's were the night she was attacked. Staring in disbelief, Kryahm remained frozen where he was kneeling. She came just to Rhyanna's feet, completely ignoring him, and knelt in the water. "Wake up, little one," she cooed softly.

Rhyanna heard a woman's voice calling to her, "Wake up little one" it said. _Mother?_ _Mother!_ Rhyanna's head swam as she mentally towards the sound, "Mother!" she cried.

Suddenly, she felt the urge to open her eyes, and as she did she looked up into her mother's ageless face.

"It's time to get up dear," she smiled and Rhyanna lifted herself into a sitting position before trying to stand. As she did, she felt a wave of dizziness wash over her, but when she felt as if she would fall a pair of strong hands grasped her shoulders. Rhyanna's eyes flew open once more to meet a familiar blue.

"Kyrahm!" she yelped, "How…?"

A soft chuckle interrupted her question, "He's here to guide you back." Rhyanna turned to her mother.

"Back?"

"Yes, back to your body. It is only your spirit that here. Your body and Kyrahm's are where you left them, back at the palace. I don't have much time, oh how I wish I had more, but I am grateful just to see you once more." Her mother's eyes shone with unshed tears, "You know you are an Anhiline, but what you don't know and what your father and I kept from you to protect you, was who the Anhiline's were. The palace your body is in was our home. Not your father's and mine personally, no, our family hasn't lived there in decades, but it is the castle our family built over a century ago. The Anhiline family was the most powerful mage family in the land, but times were peaceful and our powers weren't needed for much. Over time, our strength dwindled and the key powers were buried with disuse. There were three other families that served with us, each holding a key element and us holding two keys, but they, like us, lost the use of those key elements as they were not necessary in times of peace. Unbeknownst to all of us there was one more key power, a dark power, trained and honed in secret by a family that we never knew existed until the day they usurped us." Her eyes flicked to Kyrahm before continuing, "They learned to call the dark demons and set them on the palace. We fled, but only a few of each of the four families escaped. We separated and did the best we could to make our ways in the world. You are the last of the Anhilines, but you are the strongest, my daughter. Be careful, you are a sheep among the wolves, even if they haven't noticed you yet." Sorrow filled her eyes. In the distance a deep, somber, bell rang.

"I have to go. Turn around, close your eyes and remember where your body is. You'll be returned to it."

"Mother, wait! How can I find you when we leave here?" Rhyanna called.

The silvery woman turned tears glistening on her cheeks, "My living body was taken from me long ago. I cannot leave this world. Yes, dear, this is the world of the dead. You are much further in it that most mortals are permitted to go, but certain circumstances call for exceptions in the rules, " she smiled briefly, "Look for the man with eyes in his eyes and darkness in his heart and you'll know" she turned once again and was gone.

"Mother!" Rhyanna cried and sank to her knees.

Shocked out of his stupor, Kyrahm laid a hand on Rhyanna's shoulder, "We need to go before we get any unwelcome visitors," he said gruffly.

Rhyanna stood, gazing into the mist hoping against hope that she would catch another glimpse of her mother, but there was nothing to see but mist. Tears found their way from her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to run into the mist and find her mother, but the hands on her shoulders prevented her from doing anything but standing. They turned her around and a voice told her to close her eyes. Rhyanna felt herself sinking, and suddenly she felt locked in place and freezing cold. She opened her eyes to see the canopy above her bed. Emma was standing to the side and jumped up when she saw her move.

"Mistress, you're back!" she called joyfully.

Rhyanna began to shiver with cold. Her teeth chattered uncontrollably. Noticing this, Emma ran to the fireplace a place a small amount of tinder then proceeded to start a fire. She was having trouble with the starter, when suddenly the fire roared before her. Startled she fell back, her eyes wide with astonishment.

"Don't sit there gawking, girl. Get some wood before that fire goes out." Kyrahm ordered.

Rhyanna turned her head, to see the man sitting on a stool next to her bed. His head was in his hands as if he were struggling to figure something out. Without a word he stood and swept out of the room without a backwards glance.

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_Lemme know what you think! It's that little button on the left side, there ya go! Just press it and leave me a few words. You know you wanna. )_


	9. New Friends and Faces

_Ok, I'm going to do some more character intro's here.I'm trying to give this story a bit more depth (or breadth if you perfer). Lemme know what you think. Oh, and thank you thank you thank you for your reviews. I ran into some writer's block, but every review I got made me want to write more. _

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Chapter 9

"Report," Rydan commanded the soldier before him.

The man took in large gulps of air as he struggled to gasp out his message. He was still covered in the dust from the roads outside of city. He looked and smelled like he'd been on a horse for several days without bathing, which was probably true, then had run at least a mile, which was also likely since it wasn't permitted to ride a horse on palace grounds. He bowed briefly before Rydan and waited for him to take a seat before taking his own grateful to finally be able to rest

"Sire, we have captured three mages," the messenger said between breaths.

"Three mages! How?" Rydan asked curtly.

The messenger had finally caught his breath and was now struggling with exhaustion, "One of the journeymen felt a magical disturbance, and the commander dispatched a master mage and his apprentice to see what it was. They discovered the three in the middle of some great work, and he sent the apprentice back for the rest of the mages while he kept them detained. They were only women, sire. They didn't stand a chance against Ragan. It was as simple as that, sir."

_Unbelievable._ "That's it?" Rydan said, incrediously.

"That's it, sir. Nothing more or less."

Rydan inclined his head in the direction of one of the pages standing by the doorway, "See that this man is fed and quartered with the palace guard. Give him fresh clothing and access to a bathing room."

"Thank you, sire," the messenger bowed and left in the tow of the young page.

_Three mages! Three enemy mages, captured. Amazing. How is it possible that three mages, even though they are women, could make such a gross error in judgement?_ Rydan shook his headp; he wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. Well, at least he would have some good news to report to his father. Rydan called for another messenger. He needed to issue orders for the transfer of these mages to the palace.

As his issued the orders, Rydan grinned maliciously. It had been a long time since he had broken a female mage.

§

Rhyanna looked at the wooden knife in her hand. Well, the woman she was training with called it a knife, but to Rhyanna it may as well have been a small sword. It was much longer than any knife she had ever held and she had no idea what to do with it beside flail about and pray that she actually hit something.

"Staring at it won't make it do the work for you," her instructor called from the opposite end of the ring.

Since her attack, Kyrahm insisted that she learn some basic self-defense skills. She had started with hand-to-hand, and had actually done fairly well. The moves reminded her of a dance somewhat, and it didn't take long for her to master the basics. Now Kyrahm wanted her to learn the use of a weapon since, " 'Anyone who comes for you isn't likely to come unprepared.'" Rhyanna sighed and turned to face her instructor again.

Who better to teach her how to defend against an assassin than the person who trained assassins herself? Rhyanna had been quite surprised to find a woman in charge here, but after watching her it was clear why. She was like oil in water. Her movements blurred from one to another making a dozen strikes before coming to a halt, the way oil blends with water when you shake it but eventually comes to a rest on the top. Her name was Tygres. She came from a place Rhyanna hadn't even heard of, and Tygres only said that it was south of where they were.

Rhyanna studied her teacher from across the training ring. Tygres was a lithe creature, even with her practice armor on. She stood almost level with Kyrahm and yet was probably half of his weight. What little skin Rhyanna could see under the armor had a dusky cast to it, and her hair was the deepest of sables braided in to a thousand tiny braids. Rhyanna watched her eyes, a deep brown in the shadows, trying to anticipate her moves. She was supposedly going "easy" on her, but every muscle and joint screamed in agony at her.

Tygres's eyes flitted right but shifted her weight to the left. Rhyanna hauled herself to the right, planting her foot and waiting to see where she needed to place her blade to stop her opponent's. Tygres swung her blade at Rhyanna's neck and Rhyanna brought hers up just in time to catch a resounding crack across her fingers. Rhyanna yelped, and the blade dropped from her numb fingers.

"Better, not good, but better. You finally remembered that you can move without looking, but you can move without your feet. Next time, move the blade faster to save your fingers. Ok, I think I've knocked enough sense through your thick skull today. Lets cool down some, eh?" Tygres grinned picking up Rhyanna's forgotten weapon.

Rhyanna slumped, "Oh, thank goodness. I didn't think I'd make it one more bout. I'm bone tired and I still have to work with Kyrahm later this afternoon."

They walked over to where a pitcher of water waited at the back of the salle. Rhyanna had set a spell on it before practice to keep the water cool. Tygres reached for a pair of rough clay mugs resting on a small shelf. Nothing fancy here, it would only get destroyed with so much rough and tumble going on. No one would miss mugs like these, but they held plenty of water. Tygres poured each of them a full much and Rhyanna drained hers in one go.

"Alright, shall we walk off the exhaustion?" Rhyanna suggested.

Tygres nodded and the made their was back through the sale. Rhyanna found Tygres an easy person to get along with. Tygres was very upfront about almost everything, which was a refreshing change from all of the intrigue and dance in the palace.

"I hear that they have captured three mages." Rhyanna began.

"I'd wondered when you'd bring that up," Tygres chuckled, "They were captured probably a week ago, but the message arrived only yesterday."

Rhyanna studied the ground just beyond her feet as if she expected the worst, "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what will happen to them?"

"Well, I happen to know that Rydan ordered them brought to the palace. His father wasn't overly pleased with the notion of bringing three rather powerful enemies right into the heart of the city, but," Tygres paused, "they'll be interrogated," she finished lamely.

"Interrogated? Why don't I like the sound of that?" Ryhanna's footsteps had taken them to a small ornamental pond. She kneeled beside it watching the bright orange and white fish swim lazily around the various water plants.

"I don't pretend to know a lot about you mages, but what I do know is that every mage that has been brought here has either died or been broken, and personally I think death is the better option. I have seen some of those mages that were broken. They're serving out on the battlegrounds now, but those men, and they're all men by the way, are just husks. There's no life, no personality, no soul to them. Every time I've seen one, they send shivers down my back." Tygres spoke, her eyes trailing after a particularly large fish.

Rhyanna took a moment to wrap her mind around what Tygres had said. _Broken? Kyrahm has shown me that coercion can bend someone's will to yours, but that doesn't fit quite right. No soul at all, I wonder if I should ask Kyrham about this later. Hmm, no, I don't think it's something he'll want to share. _"Do you know why none of them are women?" Rhyanna finally asked.

"That's simple enough. There just aren't many women mages, and those women that are mages are usually protected and kept at home, not on a battlefield. That's what struck me as odd about the whole thing. I can understand capturing mages. They're valuable, and three mages are triply so. However, three women? I don't know why there were there, but it's not my place to question. It has happened and my job is to simply deal with it. As is yours, you know." Tygres caught Rhyanna's gaze in the pool.

"Oh? What do you mean?"

"Don't you play innocent with me young lady. You've been here since what, late spring early summer? It's the end of fall now. This will be the end of fighting season, and soon Rydan and his father will not have battles to occupy their attention. Look, you did not hear this from me. In fact you never heard this at all, but you would be best served by making yourself invisible during the winter. Alright, that should be enough relaxing for you. Get yourself off to your room, and get cleaned up. You smell worse than any man I've ever know!" Tygres laughed and steered herself back to the sale and her own quarters.

"I could say the same for you, but it would only be a complement!" Rhyanna called after her.

§

"This is actually kinda fun," a woman giggled quietly. She rolled over on her back to stare at the ceiling.

"Oh yes, loads of fun Anatahti. I always wanted to be chained, drugged, and thrown about like so much luggage," the flame-haired woman next to her drawled.

"Oh, come off it Shula. How often do we get to travel without having to do any of the work?" Anatahti shot back.

"Both of you, quiet. We're supposed to be drugged remember? If the guards outside hear either of you we'll be caught for sure!" the third woman whispered harshly to her companions before returning her gaze to the cracks in the wall of wagon they rode in.

"Devi?" Anatahti whispered.

Devigwen sighed, "What is it now?"

"How do we know it's there? I know you keep saying it is, but if we're wrong…" her voice trailed off.

"I felt it. I don't know what happened or why I felt it, but it was like a wave. You know how you can tell your magics from mine and Shula's?" Anatahti nodded, "It was that signature that I felt, and it came from Corez's capital city. I'm sorry Anat, but that's all the specific I can get." Devigwen glanced at Anatahti and Shula.

"I know, but this has just been too easy so far." Anatahti whispered back.

"I feel the same way Anat, but if Devi says this is where it came from, then this is where it came from. She's the best of us so I'm going to trust her instincts over my own in this area," Shula offered, trying to ease her own anxiety.

"I know. I know. Well, it's nearly sundown so we should be stopping soon. Another day, two at most should see us in the capital." Anatahti sighed and drifted back into her own thoughts.

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_Lower. Lower. Just a little to the left. Keep going. A little more to the left. Oh yes,there! You got it. Press it, go on, you know you wanna! ;)_


	10. Revelations

"Ok, ladies. Here we go," Devigwen whispered to her traveling companions.

The wagon slowed to a halt, and the sound of footsteps and the rattle of armor approached the door at the end. Sunlight streamed into the wagon where Devigwen and her companions lay as if they were unconscious. They were supposed to be drugged, but the guards were simple soldiers and easy to fool. They had simply poured any drugged water out bit-by-bit or tossed drugged food out of sight whenever they weren't looking every evening.

Rough hands grabbed her ankles and drug her, unceremoniously, out of wagon. Silently, Devigwen thanked whatever deity guarded this place, if there were any, that the floor of the wagon had been covered in rough burlap. While she was sure she had a scrape or two, at least there wouldn't be splinters to pick out of herself later. Her world spun for a moment as she was swung upwards, and a meaty shoulder impacted her stomach driving what little breath she had out. It was all she could do to maintain her drugged appearance. The man who had picked her up smelled of sweat and onions, and it was so strong that it brought tears to her eyes as it filled her nostrils. Thankfully, she wasn't carried far. Again her world spun as she was literally tossed into some sort of cart.

"Have a care, ya stupid oaf!" a man yelled from the direction of the wagon, "Capt'n says that 'ees is s'posed to come in _not_ damaged."

"Well what 'e donna see, 'e cannna get mad for," the man who had carried her replied.

"I don' care! I see it and I'll get mad if ya don take more care," the first man hollered back.

By that point the men had made their way back around the wagon and Devi could no longer hear what they were saying. Before long footsteps approached again, and the stench of person in much need of a bath threatened to overwhelm her again. Just as the smell nearly overwhelmed her, Devi felt the cart shift under the added weight of a new body. Cracking an eye open she spotted Anatahti's prone body a scant finger length away and Shula's was being set on the opposite side of it. Again the footsteps and voices faded and returned and blankets were tossed over their bodies not only to protect against chill but to hide the fact that they were transporting three unconscious women into the capital. Before long the cart jerked into motion. They were on the final leg of their journey into the heart of enemy territory.

"I still can't believe they jailed us together," Anatahti said incredulously.

"It makes sense to me," Shula replied from a dark corner of their cell, "We're mages remember. It's easier to magically seal one cell three times over than it is to seal three cells individually."

Anatahti flung her blond curls over her shoulder and placed her hands on her hips. She looked over at Devi begging wordlessly with her liquid blue eyes for support against the red-head. Beads chinked as Ana shifted her weight waiting for a response. The sound was uncannily like the trickle of water upon stone, but that made sense give that Anatahti's magic was all water related. The girl may not have the best of understandings about magic as a whole, but when it came to any magics dealing with water, she was second to none, breaking rules that masters and adepts had been teaching for generations. Everything about Ana reminded one of the water she controlled. Her movements were as liquid and graceful as a trickling stream along a bed of rocks. Her curves held the same promise of life that a skin of water promised the parched traveler. Yet her attention was as flitting as that same stream but when focused had the tremendous power of the mighty waterfalls that were scattered throughout the world.

Devi chuckled, "Yet again, Shula's right. By sealing one cell three times, each seal feeds the next, reducing the amount of energy needed to keep them in place. Plus, now the mages who placed them can take shifts. Sorry, dear."

"Well at least those guards were too intimidated by us 'evil mag'kers' to do more than haul us in here," Shula commented from her corner while cleaning her nails with a small knife, "They just took what weapons were obvious and didn't even bother with looking for any amulets or other enchanted items."

Devigwen walked to the door of their cell. It wasn't much, just a wooden door with a tiny barred window and a hinged slit where a guard could pass food through. Water came from a bucket next to the door, hastily shoved in as they were "recovering". The cell itself wasn't much larger than the wagon they had traveled in. Each wall was made of stout stone including the ceiling. Other than the door the only break in the stone was a small slit in the wall opposite the door to allow some fresh air in or, so Devi thought, to allow some of the stench out. _Well that 'window' isn't going to do us any good_, Devi thought as she paced around the room. Coming to a stop before the door, she bent slightly to examine the joints of it. They looked simple enough, but she wasn't the one who was the escape artist. Hissing to get Anatahti's attention, she mimed breaking the door's joints. No sense in letting any guard on their door know what they were planning. Anatahti grinned and sauntered towards the door. She poked and prodded for a moment before her grin widened.

_Fools! Ha! I could dismantle these in the dark with my hands tied behind my back. The pin just slides up and out. The door itself is heavy enough that it won't fall unexpectedly, and after that, a good shove will knock it clean off. _Anatahti spoke into Devigwen's mind.

Devigwen allowed herself a small smirk and leaned back against the wall as Anatahti went to inform Shula of her findings. Now they just had to find a way to take care of the guard and they would be home free. For now there was nothing to do but wait and plan. Their mission was going far smoother than she had ever expected

§

Ryanna loved to watch the sunset from a balcony not far from her room. She would sit on the stone bench and watch the sun's disc deepen in hue to a vibrant scarlet as it sank beneath the horizon. The sky, mourning the loss of the sun, mimicked her colors for as long as possible until they were washed away by the sadness ruled by darkness. Slowly, the stars would light as the sky cried his tears for his missing beloved. Each softly twinkling as more and more filled the sky until it seemed that they were bound to collect and fall. Once, long ago in her forest home, the sky had actually cried. Brilliant streaks of white fell from the sky. So many that Rhyanna couldn't count them; she had just stared, amazed at the awesome beauty playing out before her.

Rhyanna had just finished her arms practice with Tygres. While her whole body ached, it was her fingers that had hurt the most. Over the course of the past several moons, Tygres had her try every weapon imaginable from knives, to swords, to the axe and bow. Most of these weapons had been dismissed after a single session. Rhyanna was particularly happy to see the axe go. The thing was large and quite clumsy, but some weapons had stayed. The knife was the first thing she had learned. While her hand-to-hand techniques could use a little more work, she was remarkable at throwing. After practice, Tygres was even hard put to best her. From there she had moved on to the sword. Rhyanna had not enjoyed the larger versions, but the smaller were ok. They often reminded of a large knife. A few moons ago Tygres began teaching her to the bow. Now this was a weapon Rhyanna truly was in tune with. From the moment she had picked one up and caressed the smoothed wood and felt the tension in the string she knew that this was hers. It did not take her long at all to properly learn to hold and fire and arrow. After only a week she was already hitting the targets with deadly accuracy. Since then, Tygres had been making her learn to string, fire, and even care for, every type of bow there was. From the simple shortbow to the powerful crossbow, Rhyanna could hit just about any target from any distance. After today's practice, Tygres had brought out one of the most beautiful bows she had seen. It stood almost to her waist and made of a wood so deep in color as to be black. At first she had thought the tips were in silver, but Tygres soon corrected her. The metal was quite unknown. It did have the gleam of silver but it was ten times stronger. Upon closer inspection, every inch of this bow had been ornately carved. Vines lovingly wrapped their way around the wood, flowers and leaves took up any remaining space, and Rhyanna could swear that in certain places she could see eyes peeking out from among the foliage. All in all, it was one of the most magificant pieces of artwork she had seen, and one of the best bows she had ever laid hands on. Rhyanna had lovingly hung the bow on a small rack in her room that had "magically" appeared when she returned to her rooms this evening. She suspected Ella had something to do with that, but she was content to leave matters as they were.

This particular evening a few clouds lined the horizon, slowly turning a soft pink as the sun began to sink. Below her was a small garden. Although tended well, this garden wasn't visited too often so when a pair of figures exited the door beneath her, Rhyanna froze, sunset forgotten.

"Soon now, brother. Her training is almost completed. Not as much as she could learn, but more than enough to suffice. The rest she can learn as she goes," a familiar voice wafted from below.

"Good. I would see her made a proper wife and noble. Her lessons are lacking there although. She still treats the maid as if she's an equal. You must teach her the order of things, lest she find herself in an…awkward, situation" a second, more condescending voice said.

"Rydan, she was living in a forest! Considering the fact that she hasn't horribly offended anyone is a major victory. She has so much potential as a mage," the second voice held true regard for his pupil as he said that, "and she could do so much more than I could teach her. Look at what she did a few moons ago. She rocked the very foundations of this castle despite it protections! Power like that is second to none, Rydan, and if not trained, could create havoc if it goes wild again. There's no telling what would set her off even though it took an assassin last time"

The sound of metal scraping on leather tickled Rhyanna's ear, "I will see to her so called abilities, Kyrahm. But you will see to her social education. She is not your pet, nor is she anything you can have let alone touch. She is mine, and I will be the one who dictates what she does and does not need, and I say that she does not need any further training of these so-called talents. She has enough to keep her powers under control and that is all that is necessary. When you bring her before the altar I expect her to be the perfect lady. I expect her to obey me _without_ question. I do not care how you do it, but if you don't, I will see to it myself. Gladly. Then I will see to it that your name is so fouled that you would never dare to set foot from you suite again! Remember, brother mine, who is the stronger mage." Rydan roared.

Again, metal scraped leather, and the slam of the door below jump started Ryanna's mind again. _They were talking about me!_ _I knew that there was something wrong, but not this, never this! Rydan is…is…_horribleUnwittingly, the mind voice she'd heard advice from flitted into her memory. Trust Kyrahm it had said. _Well after this little scene I may have little choice. Kyrahm has been kind, if gruff, and well male, but he has offered me no real harm. Yet. I need to get out of here! I cannot be attached to Rydan; I will not be attached to him. That is more like a death sentence. But how…how do I get out of here when I don't even truly know where here is?_ Thoughts whirled through Rhyanna's mind. Numbly, Rhyanna sat there, on the stone bench as sunset came and went. The stars came out and Rhyanna didn't even notice she was so deep in thought.

"Miss?" a soft voice called from beside her, "Miss? Are you well?"

Rhyanna shook her head and looked at the young maid standing beside her, "I'm fine. I was just lost in thought."

Ella giggled, "You must have been deeply lost then, madam, because it's nearly an hour past sunset and you're still sitting here. Come on, let us get you undressed and into bed."

§

Anatahti giggled again. She had been teasing the guard outside their door for the past hour. The sun was nearly set. They had to get moving soon. _Ana hurry up! The sun is nearly down and we need what little light is left to find out way out of this dungeon. After that we'll be fine, but if it gets dark and we're still down here things are going to get a lot more interesting_

_You worry too much Devi! He's open enough now for my casting so no more bugging me. We'll be out of here in a giffy_

"No wife to go home to? Aww, you poor thing," Anatahti sung sweetly, "Don't you have anyone to warm your bed during the nights?"

Devi could hear the guard shifting his feet, "No." he replied uneasily.

"Oh what a pity," Anatahti purred, "I fail to see how any woman could resist your charms. I could just imagine myself wrapped in your strong arms, and tumbled into your bed."

The guard sucked in a sharp breath. Anatahti was getting to him. As uncomfortable as it seemed, Anatahti truly enjoyed this. Water whittled its way into any crack, and Ana could whittle her way through any man's defenses. Granted, taking one look at her would tell why. Soft and almost doll like, Ana was every man's dream. Glossy blonde fell to her waist gently curling along the way. Even now, braided and pinned, soft whisps framed a beautiful heart-shaped face. Large, vibrant blue eyes gazed up through long lashes. A dainty nose sat above lovely, pouting, lips. Devi had to laugh at that. If there was one then Anatahti could do it was simper. Full breasts, a dainty waist, long legs, and skin the color of cream free of blemishes completed any man's dream, and she knew it. She had no shame in using her wiles to weaken defenses in order or work her magic. Not as flamboyant, but certainly just as effective.

"Well I'm sure you sleep more alone. It will be hard sleeping alone on this dirt floor in here. There's nothing like a feather bed to sink into. Just laying back, relaxing, sinking into a soft pillow, and just drifting away." Anatahti sung.

As she finished, they heard the thump of the guard hitting the floor. Ana grinned wickedly turning back to her cellmates. In each hand she held a pair of simple iron pins, and just as she planned it the door behind her slowly tilted and fell against the wall with a crack loud enough to be heard from several floors.

"Comon, they will have definitely heard that!" Devi called as she strode by Ana and out the door.

Shula was next, "Next time a little quieter maybe," she said as she passed by loosing the few knives the guards had missed.

"Aww," Ana pouted, "what would be the fun in that?"

They followed Devi out into the hall. This is where Devigwen showed some of her skills. Somehow she knew the exact route they had taken to their cell and the most likely path to their original weapons. And sure as the sunrise, within a few minutes Shula had nearly all of her confiscated knives back and Anahati had her bladed staff back. Devigwen was the only one of the three who carried no weapon. She was the only one of the three with any formal mage training and thus, had no weapons training at all. She didn't wear armor either, but then again she had no need. Her element was air, and like the air she could spin herself into and out of it. It was amazing to watch not to mention very handy in a battle. Armed and ready the headed into the castle proper, using old service halls and servant stairwells.

§

A knock came from the door, and Ella stood to answer it. The servant at the doorway whispered a message then left once more. Ella returned to her duties as if nothing was amiss. Intrigued by the encounter Rhyanna asked, "What was that about?"

"Nothing you need worry about, Miss. Now off to bed with you," the maid admonished as if Rhyanna was an unruly child.

Rhyanna slipped under the covers of her bed and no sooner had her head touched the pillow, she fell fast asleep.

Grey mists swirled around her ankles. From the distance, the battle cry of a hawk reached her ears. For lack of anything else to look for or at, Rhyanna cast her eyes skyward. There, in the distance, was an unusually large hawk. It looked much like the red-tailed ones from her forest, but he was far too large to have ever come from her home. The hawk glided through the air above her as a fish would glide through water, drifting slowing down towards her. A tree materialized itself from the mist and the hawk settled itself upon its lowest branch, putting itself right at eye level with her.

_See what stories make you past with hopes that you will make the future the now familiar voice said into her mind. _

_Suddenly the gray mists that surrounded her were gone and she stood in the Great Hall of the castle. Only it wasn't quite so foreboding or cold. Warm carpets lined the floors, banners from allies decorated the walls, and candles cast their light over a small entourage of people. Two were obviously rulers, king and queen, and with them a small child bundled in the queen's arms. _

_The woman who stands to the right of the queen is the Arch Mage. She regulates and reports upon the activities of mages within the country. She is also in charge of overseeing the education of future mages as well as their discipline. Next to her is the senchal. He basically oversees the inner workings of the castle. Servants and such, so that their majesties may concentrate their attentions to their people. Behind the king stands the Lord Admiral. He is the Arch Mage's counter. He oversees the military and it's training much the same as the Arch Mage oversees the mages. Beside him is the Chancellor. He is the king's confidant. He is a member of the nobility here to speak on behalf of people in places too far away to reach by conventional means. Among them is a traitor. Watch and learn. the voice faded from her mind._

_They were discussing something that seemed to have the group fully submerged in conversation. Around her she could see archers lining the balcony. Hidden in shadow they were unseen by the party below. Sensing the strangers, the child began to wail and would not be comforted. So the queen called for a servant to take the young one away. Not a moment after the child had left, the Senshal stood and excused himself for a reason Rhyanna could not hear. He had gotten but a few paces from the group when the whole room erupted in the song of the bow. Rhyanna watched in horror as the party below was slaughtered in their seats. _

_Tears filled Rhyanna's eyes. She had stood exactly where those people had died the day she first arrived here. The Chancellor looked up then, right at Rhyanna and suddenly she found herself before this vile man. Something was so very familiar about him, but Rhyanna couldn't place her finger on it. Slowly the Chancellor's face changed in to that of the man who now sat upon the throne._

_A voice inttrupted her thoughts, Corez is the great-grandson of this man. They took the throne in blood and have held it that way ever since _

_Next she was thrown to what must have been a nursery. In it were four children, all girls, ranging in age from about five down to the royal infant. Two servants talked in hushed tones behind the door before they came through. Without a word they gathered the children, telling them of a grand game to be played outside. Excited the children followed the servants into a small passageway hidden within a cupboard full of toys. No sooner had the children left then men dressed in the same attire as the archers from the throne room burst into the room. They turned the room inside out. Destroying toys, dolls, and even the furniture. _

_The scene changed once more. Now she was deep in a forest. A young, haggard woman carrying a babe struggled to make her way down a small, dirt path. In the distance there was a light from a small cottage. Rhyanna wanted to reach out and take the woman's hand to help her, but her hand passed through the poor creature as if she was nothing more that a ghost. At last, she made it to the doorway and collapsed to her knees upon the entryway. With nothing left, it was all she could do to softly knock at the door. Within a moment the door opened to reveal a plump woman simply garbed. She gasped at the girl on her doorstep, and relieved her of the infant. It was only then you could see the wound that had nearly cut her in half. The woman shook the girl's shoulder, and the girl's eyes opened just a hair._

"_Oh, I thank you for opening your door to us," she whispered, "Thank you. Keep her safe please. She is the daughter of our departed queen Ardura d'Anhline. Keep her safe. Please, keep her safe"_

_The girl closed her eyes once more, and she was gone. The woman in the door was stuck dumb. She just stood there, kneeling next to the body until the baby started to wail. She called for her husband._

_Suddenly the people were gone, but the cottage remained. Rhyanna blinked at the suddenness of it, and finally looked at the cottage itself. It only took a moment for her to recognize her childhood home. She grasped the handle and pushed the door open. Everything was just as she remembered it the night she fled. She ran from room to room calling for her mother with no answer…_

"Mother!" Rhyanna yelled sitting bolt upright in her bed.

_It was just a dream_, she told herself over and over, but it had all seemed so real. Where had she gotten crazy ideas like that?

_I'm afraid that was no dream child. I am sorry for the shock, but it could not be helped. Your allies are here for you. The mage, warrior, and chancellor are here for you. You need them as they need you. _her mysterious benefactor said.


End file.
